


Going Bush 5: Returned

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Series: Going Bush [5]
Category: Hanson
Genre: Abduction, Assault, Bondage, Gen, Hostage Situations, Human Trafficking, Slave Trade, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-06
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-10 13:20:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 125
Words: 70,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Isaac visits New York City to try and pick up the pieces of their broken working lives, a secret he'd thought long hidden comes back to haunt him while Seth is out for revenge for his brother's death. Meanwhile, the past also finally catches up with Zac.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 01

Isaac couldn’t believe how much he’d missed the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He almost felt obligated to ship some of it back to the Pentagon just to make Taylor jealous.  
As he stepped out onto the busy New York street, he took in a deep breath as he used his other hand to speed dial Taylor’s cell phone.  
“Hey Ike.”  
“Zac?” Isaac frowned, “where’s Tay?”  
“He’s kinda busy getting the crap beaten out of him right now.”  
Isaac grinned knowingly. A few of the soldiers at the Pentagon had taken it upon themselves to start teaching them some standard self-defence. They’d been going for months now, which meant their sessions had amped up substantially.  
They’d even gotten the kids involved in some of the lighter classes.  
“Sorry I’m missing it,” Isaac didn’t sound at all sorry, “just wanted to call and brag about where I’m standing right now.”  
“…Why? Where are you?”  
“Starbucks,” Isaac smirked.  
“Asshole.”  
“Hey, you could have kept me company,” Isaac shrugged before taking a sip as he mindlessly watched the traffic go by, “you just needed an escort.”  
“Whatever. Is that all you called for?”  
“For now. I’m about to head into the office, guess I’ll call around lunch with an update?”  
“Sounds good.”  
Isaac smirked again as he heard some loud grunts in the background.  
“Guess I’d better leave you to it.”  
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they save up some of the heavy hits for when you get back.”  
“I don’t doubt that you will.”  
He hung up as soon as Zac did, returning the phone to his pocket.  
The trip to New York had been purely work related. They’d already spent another six months or so at the Pentagon, and on top of the last stay the business had been really starting to suffer for it. Isaac opted to be the one to head to their other 3CG headquarters in order to sort everything out because out of the three of them he expected the least amount of trouble out in the open… He figured he may get a visit from Nate, but that would be about all. With Private Vance keeping him company he knew that Nate would most likely keep his distance. Vance was a big guy who just screamed army.  
Looking back for the plain-clothes soldier who’d joined him on the trip, he saw him still waiting for his coffee while striking up conversation with a young blonde.  
Vance also screamed ‘ladies’ man’, which Isaac had figured out pretty early on their flight out.  
He sighed. He remembered those days. Now the whole concept just made him miss Nikki more.  
He was suddenly bumped into by a pedestrian walking with the newly traffic-crossed crowd surrounding him. Able to catch his coffee in time, he looked over his shoulder as he apologised.  
“It’s okay,” he reassured, holding the cup up to indicate the lack of spillage.  
The man paused, a curious look on his face.  
“I say… is that you, Isaac?” he asked, making his way back cautiously.  
“Yes… do I know you?” Isaac did think he looked familiar, but couldn’t place him.  
“Oh we’ve never met face to face,” the man assured, “but I thought it was time we did.”


	2. 02

“Is that so?” Isaac took another sip of his coffee as the crowd from the street dispersed slightly, “so are you going to introduce yourself?”  
“Pardon, how very rude of me,” the man held out his hand, “the name is Seth.”  
Isaac flinched and backed off two steps, looking back for Vance.  
“Private Vance has been previously side-tracked,” Seth took his hand back almost dejectedly, “so that we could have some time to talk. It’s amazing what barristers will do for an extra fifty quid.”  
Isaac could clearly see Vance still talking to the blonde.   
“You’re not gonna try anything here,” he said decidedly, turning back to Seth, “we’re in the middle of New York. You wouldn’t get two blocks. There’s CCTV everywhere, and I am not alone.”  
“Which all becomes irrelevant when I give my sharpshooter the signal to put a bullet through your brain,” Seth said calmly, making Isaac blanch, “I think you’ll find the shock value of a possible sniper in the area would make it very easy for me to disappear. He’s currently sitting on the rooftop across from us in wait.”  
Isaac hesitated, his mind racing. If he could keep Seth talking long enough chances were Vance had to look up at some point.  
“So let me ask you a question first,” he turned back, “what do you have against our cars?”  
“Excuse me?” Seth raised an eyebrow.  
“Well twice now Zac’s have been blown up, and last time you demolished Tay’s… just wondering if you had something against them is all.”  
Seth gave him a look that showed exactly how stupid he thought the question was.  
“Let me ask you something, Isaac…” he moved slightly closer, “what does the number 356 mean to you?”  
Isaac almost dropped the coffee as he felt his blood run cold. Seth couldn’t help but smile a little when he suddenly looked like a deer in headlights.  
“Something out of the ordinary, I’d wager,” he slid his hands into his pockets, “you see… when my elder brother died, because the next of kin is currently imprisoned – thanks to your brother, and you as well I guess – I happened to inherit his bookkeeping. Imagine my surprise when among Krüger’s final inductees, a photo of you came up…”  
Isaac was staring now as Seth came within a few feet of him, getting dangerously close to his personal space.  
“I imagine you thought you’d kept that to yourself rather well, otherwise you’d surely not be out here in the open like this.”  
“We didn’t think-“  
“You didn’t think there’d be a paper trail,” Seth finished for him, “yes, well… we are slightly more organised than most people realise.”  
“So what’s the plan?” Isaac’s eyes narrowed, “are you planning to take me in?”  
“Well that depends on you,” Seth reasoned, “you could come with me without any fuss, or I could simply have my sniper friend put you down. Considering you were never actually sold I don’t believe anyone would really care. I certainly wouldn’t. And it really would be a good way to pay your brothers back for Ryan’s death…”  
“Gunning me down on the street really doesn’t seem your style,” Isaac hid his nerves like a pro.  
“Circumstances change. People change,” Seth considered, “you of all people should know that.”  
A sudden gunshot was heard, and the Starbucks window behind them shattered to the pavement.


	3. 03

Isaac took the distraction to duck down in front of a sedan parked in front of the store. As he put his back to it he saw that Seth had ducked off to the side, looking up at where he assumed the gunman would be before down at Isaac again.   
He saw him pull out a cell phone before disappearing into an alley, not a second before Vance appeared in the store doorway.  
“VANCE GET DOWN!” Isaac yelled before bullets seemed to spray the door panels.  
Vance dove for the car where Isaac sat, taking the moment to reload his handgun.   
“Ike what the Hell?!” he exclaimed.  
“Seth’s here,” Isaac informed him, “and he brought a sniper with him.”  
“I saw him. I took the shot and missed,” Vance nodded, “where’d he go?”  
“The alley,” Isaac pointed.  
Vance was about to get to his feet when Isaac grabbed his jacket and pulled him back down.  
“ _Sniper_ Vance, sniper!”  
“Right,” Vance took a moment to catch his breath, “do you know where?”  
“Rooftop across the street.”  
Vance kept his eye on the mouth of the alley in case Seth reappeared, but saw nothing. The gunfire had ceased but neither man was brave enough to venture out just yet.  
“So how long are we going to stay here?” Isaac asked worriedly.  
Vance looked either way down the street. His eyes fell on a subway entrance.  
“If I cover you, do you think you could make it to the subway?” he asked.  
Isaac looked past him to judge where it was.  
“What do you mean ‘cover’?” he asked.  
“What do you think?” Vance scorned, holding up his gun.  
Isaac stopped to take a deep breath.   
“Okay,” he relented.  
Vance turned onto one knee, using the hood of the car as a shield as he aimed his gun and tried to lay eyes on the sharpshooter. If he had a sniper rifle, chances were slim he’d be able to see him. He needed to somehow draw his fire.  
“Wait for it,” he ordered Isaac, eyes darting across the skyline of the opposite building.  
There was a tense moment of silence as people in the surrounding stores came out to bear witness, before another shot suddenly fired hitting the window in the car above Isaac’s head.  
“I’ve got him, GO!” Vance ordered, sending fire back.  
As the first bullet left Vance’s gun, Isaac scrambled to his feet and bolted. Bullets hit the pavement a few seconds apart as the sniper both tried to hit Isaac and avoid Vance’s fire. Once Isaac hit the stairs and made his way down, Vance followed with his eyes locked to the rooftop. He’d seen the gunman’s head, and was able to draw his fire close enough to ward off any further attack.  
His leg suddenly hit the railing and he pulled the gun down in order to follow Isaac down.  
“Now what?!” Isaac met him at the bottom.  
Vance had already pulled out his cell phone on the way down.  
“Shots fired on 7th,” he reported to the answer, “Seth Creed’s in town. MIA but still within the vicinity. Hanson and I are headed down into the subway in retreat.”  
Isaac saw a train pulling in just as they reached the main level, and Vance indicated to go for it.  
“Getting on a train now,” he reported, giving the line as soon as he found it.


	4. 04

Vance holstered the gun before anyone on the train saw it, though most weren’t paying attention. A lot of people had left the train in order to find out what was happening up on the street.   
Turning back to make sure they weren’t followed, they waited until the doors closed before they dared take their eyes away from the stairwell.  
“Vance?” Isaac got his attention, “what do we do? Should we head back for Washington?”  
“Yeah I’m here,” Vance said into the phone, not sure what to tell him, “we’re heading north. Can someone meet us?”  
Isaac looked back down the train nervously before pulling out his own phone. He dialled for Taylor again, figuring Zac would at least answer a second time.  
“I heard,” Taylor answered this time, “and I swear, if you even think-“  
“Tay we’re in trouble,” Isaac cut him off, looking back at Vance who was still on the phone.  
“Trouble?” Taylor frowned, “what kind of trouble? Ike, are you serious?!”  
“Seth’s here,” Isaac couldn’t hide the worry in his voice, “Tay he knows.”  
There was a pause as Taylor processed the bombshell.  
“He knows?” he repeated, “you mean he knows about you? But how?!”  
“Supposedly he inherited Ryan’s paper trail. Krüger must have had time to lodge the contract before he died.”  
“Oh God this isn’t happening,” Taylor’s stress was coming down the line, “I knew it! I knew you shouldn’t have gone!”  
“We can’t have known, Tay,” Isaac scorned, “and we can’t stay holed up forever. Maybe we’ll get lucky today and catch the son of a-“  
“Ike!” Vance caught his attention, “army’s gonna intercept us two stations ahead. When we get there we’ll be in the clear.”  
“Ike?” came Taylor’s voice when he paused.  
“Yeah I’m here,” Isaac assured, “we’re on a subway. Vance has called the army in and we’re gonna meet them-“  
The lights suddenly went out making Isaac stop. The train came screeching to a halt, and before they could fall over in the pull Isaac felt Vance grab him by the arm and hold onto a rail to keep them both steady.  
“Ike what’s happening?!”  
Isaac waited until he had his balance before returning the phone to his ear.  
“The train just stopped,” he breathed, as it finally did come to a halt.  
“What?!”  
“It just stopped. We’re in the middle of a tunnel.”  
“Well this can’t be good,” Vance stated the obvious before relaying what had happened into his own phone.  
No generators came on, and no safety lights. The only sources of light were the tunnel signals outside the train, and phones or flashlights which the passengers had soon pulled out.  
“Ike you gotta get out of there,” he could hear Taylor’s worry.  
“Pretty sure we’re working on that,” Isaac insisted, his eyes on Vance.  
“Come on,” Vance nodded over his shoulder, heading for the end of the car.  
The two of them made their way through the cart of confused commuters, Vance not hesitating before hitting the emergency exit and opening the door out into the tunnel.


	5. 05

“DEVON!” Taylor yelled as he made it to the door.  
“I just got the call,” Devon shook his head, “I gotta go!”  
“Can we get a security feed from the subway?!” Taylor called after him.  
“Go see Dekker!” Devon called back before disappearing from sight.  
“Dammit,” Taylor cursed.  
He looked back into the training room before he took off down the hallway himself.  
“Ike you still there?!”  
“I’m here,” came the reply, “we’re heading down the tunnel in the same direction as the train. If we can get two stations down we’ll be okay.”  
“Right,” Taylor breathed, coming to the end and turning left.  
He almost bumped into Private Monroe.  
“Monroe!” he exclaimed, “can we get security feed from the New York subway going in one of the interview rooms?!”  
Monroe paused, looking like it was the last thing he’d considered doing.  
“Probably,” he offered, “uh… give me a sec.”  
Taylor stopped to wait as Monroe got on his radio to Dekker. He figured he needed to tell Zac, but he wasn’t going to hang up on Isaac for anything.  
“Tay?” he suddenly heard Isaac’s voice, “we have a problem.”  
“No no no, don’t say that,” Taylor shook his head.

*

Isaac and Vance had come to a halt possibly two hundred yards before the next subway station. Two men stood in front of them shining flashlights in their eyes, guns drawn beside them.  
“We’re gonna need you to lower your weapon,” one of them instructed Vance, who already had his gun aimed between them.  
“And if I don’t?” Vance raised an eyebrow, “what are you gonna do, shoot us? There’s no way you’re getting out of here, the army has us surrounded.”  
“We hear different,” the one who’d spoken began taking cautious steps forward.  
“Stay back!” Vance ordered.  
“Ike what’s going on?!” came Taylor’s voice again.  
“Tay stay on the line,” Isaac whispered, knowing it would be heard regardless.  
“Drop the gun, and the phone, _now_!”  
Isaac looked to Vance, who looked like he was internally struggling with a decision. Waiting for his lead, Isaac was shocked when Vance suddenly pulled the trigger.  
The advancer went down with a bullet in his shoulder as Vance ducked to the side before aiming for the other gunman. The second man took a shot and missed as a crowd began gathering on the platform up ahead. Vance sent him to the ground with a bullet in his leg before stiffening suddenly.  
“Don’t be a hero,” Isaac heard Seth’s voice from somewhere in the dark behind Vance.  
Gulping slightly he quickly switched his cell phone onto speaker mode. As he did so the light from the screen showed Seth with a gun to the back of Vance’s neck.  
“Drop it, Isaac,” Seth ordered, “or I’ll put this puppy down.”  
“And you won’t if I do?” Isaac didn’t believe it.  
“How about I’ll consider it?” Seth scorned, before giving Vance a closer look.  
“On second thought… we really could use another soldier on the payroll.”


	6. 06

Taylor was listening to everything. He heard the phone drop as Monroe led him into an interview room, the soldiers in there still working to get the feeds up.  
A moment later a new voice came down the line.  
“I say, is that you Taylor?”  
Taylor felt the tears springing to his eyes as he pulled the phone from his ear. He set it to speaker before Monroe demanded that everyone in the room be quiet.  
Setting the phone on the table, Taylor fell to his knees in front of it.  
“Seth please don’t take him,” his eyes darted, “I know I’m the one you want. I’m the one that killed Ryan.”  
“Yes well, while I do intend to make you pay for that dearly…” Seth drawled, “this current venture for once has nothing to do with you. You see I’m here to honour a contract.”  
“What’s he talking about?” Monroe looked between Taylor and the others in the room.  
“The contract hasn’t been made, he was never sold!” Taylor argued, “you don’t have anything to honour! Just let him go!”  
“Wrong, unfortunately,” Seth came back, “turns out there was quite an interest in 356.”  
Taylor covered his mouth with his hand as footage from the subway finally appeared on screen.  
“Is this on a delay?” one of the soldiers looked confused as the trio’s standoff came onscreen.  
“But don’t let me keep you. Just make sure to keep this phone nearby as I’ll be contacting you again shortly,” Seth began a goodbye.  
“Why?” Taylor frowned instantly, “you’ve never done that before. Why this time?”  
“Because I am far from done with you,” Seth’s voice now had a warning edge to it, “by the way… stay away from the outer walls, won’t you? If Islamic terrorists can hit you, I can too.”  
“What do you mean-?“ Taylor cut off as the line went dead.  
He looked up to Monroe.  
“What did he mean by that?!” he frowned.  
“We just had a terror threat on the building from Seth Creed,” one of the other soldiers reported into his radio.  
“He means…” Taylor jumped as Zac’s voice came from behind him.  
He turned to find him leaning in the doorway.  
“That he’s so dead set on killing you he’s tempted to fly a plane into the building. Again.”  
“You heard?” Taylor didn’t move from his spot on the floor.  
“I heard enough,” Zac shook some hair out of his face, “so what do we do about it?”  
“They’re still somewhere in the vicinity,” Monroe shook his head, “there’s every chance we could pick them up on the way out.”  
Most of the soldiers had left the room already. Zac caught a stray call from one of them on their way down the hall about getting a visual barrier around the city.  
Taylor returned his attention to the screen where he saw Seth talking on the phone. Presumably to him. Isaac and Vance were already out of sight.  
“He was waiting for this,” he said decidedly, watching as Seth made to move back down the tunnel – away from the where the army were planning to intercept, “he waited six months just for one of us to leave. Ike didn’t even have two days.”  
“Would you expect any more if it were you or me?” Zac folded his arms.  
“I honestly don’t think either one of us would make it out of Washington,” Taylor admitted.


	7. 07

Taylor was pacing, shaking his right hand out as he held his cell phone with his left.  
“Do you think he’s going to use Ike against us?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
The two had been left in the room with just one of the Privates – another stationed just outside – with orders to call if Seth contacted them again.  
“I guess,” Taylor shook his head, “why else would he contact us again? He’s obviously going to try anything he can to bring us in.”  
“Or in your case…” Zac trailed off when Taylor gave him a dark look.  
He held his hands up in surrender and backed off to lean against the side wall.  
“Is there a certain protocol to follow if he decides to use Ike as a hostage?” Taylor asked the Private.  
“Every case is different…” the soldier considered, “but we lean towards not negotiating with terrorists.”  
“Great. Here we go again,” Zac muttered, rolling his eyes as Taylor just stared at the soldier.  
“What do you mean ‘again’?” Taylor suddenly turned to him before the soldier could respond.  
Zac gave him a sheepish look.  
“Something Ike said when we were looking for you in Mexico,” he really didn’t want to say it, “about the FBI and their priorities… and how you weren’t really one of them in comparison to Nate and Krüger.”  
Taylor took a moment to consider that before turning back to the soldier.  
“Is that true?” he asked, “I mean I know Creed’s a high profile target and all that, but you really wouldn’t… If you had to give up Ike to get him in custody, would you?”  
The soldier’s eyes darted between them for a moment.  
“I’m really not authorised to answer anything like that,” he admitted.  
“Of course not,” Taylor rolled his eyes, “and if we took it to Andrews he’d just skirt around it like everyone else. Trying to get a straight answer in this place is like getting blood from a stone.”  
“It’s always a case of need to know,” the soldier shrugged.  
“Excuse me?” Zac’s eyebrows rose, “who exactly would you consider in the ‘need to know’ of a hostage situation? Because I would think immediate family – or especially his _wife_ \- would be first on the list.”  
“Not if it inhibits the process of an operation.”  
“Oh God,” Taylor put his free hand on his head as he started pacing again.  
Zac clenched his fist, but held himself back from taking a swing at the empty wall.  
“For what it’s worth-“  
“Don’t,” Taylor held a finger up to the soldier, “just… don’t.”  
He paused as his phone suddenly beeped.  
“What is it?” Zac frowned, “the battery?”  
“Yeah,” Taylor suddenly looked worried before looking to the soldier again, “I need to go and charge it. It if dies, Seth can’t get through.”  
“Where’s your charger?” the Private slung his rifle over his shoulder and took a step forward.  
“In my room,” Taylor gave Zac a glance, “should I bring it here, or…?”  
“I’ll check the clearance,” the soldier nodded, “you might be free to go.”  
“Thanks,” Taylor nodded, turning back to Zac as he radioed it in.  
“How long has it been?” he asked.  
“Four hours,” Zac checked his watch, “so yes, he could be absolutely anywhere by now.”


	8. 08

Taylor breathed a short sigh of relief as he attached his phone to the charger and watched as it started to power up again.  
“Okay, now that that’s settled,” Zac hadn’t bothered coming through the door with him, “I’m gonna take a hike. Dekker wanted to run through some drills, and I take it you’ll call if anything happens?”  
“Will do,” Taylor’s current escort – McNally – promised.  
“Tay you okay?” Zac thought he’d better check.  
“I’m great,” Taylor smiled sarcastically.  
“Great,” Zac gave him a thumbs up, not falling for it, “but I’m not gonna hang around for the next twelve hours just assuming Seth was planning to call _today_. So I’m gonna go ahead and keep on preparing for what happens when he actually does.”  
“No go ahead,” Taylor turned sullen, “I just don’t want to leave the phone.”  
“Cool,” Zac nodded before disappearing.  
Taylor sat on the bed with a sigh as McNally took up post just beside the open door. He stared at the phone for a moment before reaching over for the pad of paper he kept on the bedside table. His fingers had barely touched it when his phone suddenly rang.  
Almost jumping out of his skin, he put it to his ear as McNally appeared in the doorway again.  
“Hello?” his eyes darted.  
“Hello…?”  
Taylor took a deep breath and gave the cut throat signal to McNally. The soldier gave him a disgruntled look and stepped outside again.  
“Kadie this is a really bad time,” Taylor turned his attention back to the phone.  
“I really need to see you.”  
Taylor frowned. It sounded like she’d been crying.  
“Has something happened?” he asked straight away, “is your brother okay?”  
“Jake’s okay,” came a soft reply, “I haven’t seen him for a while, but he went to get us some food…”  
Taylor bit his lip, not entirely sure how to pacify her over the phone.  
“Kadie, I don’t know what I can do for you,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “we have a situation here, my hands are-“  
He cut the analogy off before he could finish it and gulped slightly.  
“Kadie, Seth’s still very much around. He’s after us. He’s probably after you,” he warned.  
“What? How do you know?” he could hear panic in her voice, “where is he?!”  
“I don’t know,” Taylor barely breathed, “but this morning he was in New York. We sent Ike there for something and he… he’s gone. Seth took him.”  
There was a moment of silence as Taylor drew in a shaky breath at the prospects.  
“I’m in Washington.”  
“What?” Taylor frowned, “you’re here?! Kadie, you need to come in!”  
“I can’t,” her voice broke, “I’m scared! And if Seth’s around… No, I just can’t. I just needed to see you. I need to know that you’re okay.”  
“I’m okay,” Taylor tried to reassure her, “I’m just worried about my brother right now.”  
There was a momentary pause and Taylor wondered if she believed him.  
“I’m going to be at the northern entrance at seven tonight,” Kadie said suddenly, “please be there.”  
“Kadie-!“ Taylor flinched as she hung up before he could reply.  
He quickly checked the phone to see if he could call back, but it had been a private number.


	9. 09

“’Morning Devon,” Zac greeted, regardless of it being mid-afternoon.  
“Did I miss anything?” Devon held back a yawn as he struggled to open his eyes.  
He leant against the doorway, watching as Zac went nuts with a punching bag.  
“Nope,” Zac offered, “not since this morning. Seth still hasn’t called.”  
He stopped to catch his breath, grabbing the bag to stop the sway.  
“But I bet it’ll be a few days yet before he does,” he shrugged, “I think he just wants to keep us on edge.”  
“Is it working?” Devon’s eyebrows rose.  
“It’s working on Tay,” Zac smirked, “I know that if Seth even thinks there’s a possibility that we’re going to give ourselves up for Ike, that he needs to keep him alive.”  
“Yeah…” Devon reasoned, “but in what condition?”  
Zac sighed and turned away. He began unstrapping his gloves.  
“Alive,” he repeated insistently.  
He threw the gloves aside and wiped some sweaty hair out of his face before turning his attention back to Devon.  
“What would you do, if it were up to you?” his eyes narrowed, “would you take Seth over Ike?”  
“What do you mean?” Devon frowned.  
“In a hostage situation,” Zac clarified, “if Seth was going to kill Ike, but saving him meant Seth would get away… what would you do? Who would you take?”  
“I’d take Ike,” Devon shrugged, “it’s a no-brainer.”  
“Huh,” Zac nodded, bending to grab a nearby towel.  
“Why?” Devon got suspicious, “has something happened I should know about?”  
“No,” Zac shook his head as he towelled himself off, “but protocol came up earlier.”  
A knowing look crossed Devon’s face.  
“I see,” he nodded, “and… I take it that didn’t go down too well?”  
“No it didn’t,” Zac scorned, “but how are we supposed to take it? How do we know that Seth isn’t just going to show up on the doorstep of the Pentagon one day and blow his brains out in front of us all?”  
“Well for one,” Devon began cautiously, “our snipers could take him out from miles away and Ike wouldn’t even get a drop of blood on him. For another, Seth isn’t that stupid.”  
“So I keep hearing.”  
“You don’t agree?” Devon raised an eyebrow, watching him closely.  
“I don’t really feel qualified to judge,” Zac admitted, “I only met the guy once, and at the time he was threatening to shoot my fingers off if I didn’t tell him where Tay was.”  
“Right…” Devon remembered that interview, “so how’s Tay taking it?”  
“Not good, but that’s to be expected right?” Zac pulled a face, “he’s the one Seth wants dead.”  
Devon nodded, before turning to head for the door.  
“I’d better go check on him. Are you supposed to be in here alone?”  
“Nope, but Dekker had to hit the head,” Zac smirked, “he’ll be back any second.”  
“Should I wait?”  
Zac waved him off, and Devon soon disappeared. When Dekker showed himself again the two headed for the cafeteria, while Devon headed straight for Taylor’s quarters.  
It took some time, but he eventually found him quietly playing with the younger kids.


	10. 10

Taylor glanced at the clock as it neared 7pm. He’d been feeling on edge all day, even more so since Kadie’s strange phone call.   
“Hey Zac?” he got his attention from across the table, “I’m gonna have an early one. You want the phone?”  
“Sure,” Zac was partially relieved, thinking Taylor would at least get some sleep, “I’ll let you know if anything happens.”  
“I know you will,” Taylor offered a small smile as he stood and handed his phone over.  
“Plenty of battery?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
“Should be,” Taylor nodded, “if not, just come get the charger when you need it.”  
“I’ll try not to wake you up,” Zac promised before getting back to his dinner.  
“Thanks.”  
Taylor left the cafeteria and began down the hall back toward his room when he paused in his stride. He suddenly realised he was alone, and he hadn’t been all day.  
Seeing McNally making his way down the corridor toward him he breathed a sigh of relief and aimed for him.  
“McNally!” he called, “have you seen Devon anywhere?”  
“Andrews called a few of the guys in for a debrief on the Vance and Isaac situation,” he replied.  
“Damn,” Taylor muttered, looking back where he’d come from.  
“Something wrong?” McNally frowned.  
“No,” Taylor reassured, “I was just hoping he could help me with something.”  
“Anything I can do?”  
Taylor paused, fiddling with his wedding ring absently as he thought it over.  
“How good are you at keeping secrets?” he asked.  
“I am a soldier,” McNally looked confused, “but if it’s something you’ve specifically organised with Devon, maybe you should wait until he-“  
“No, I’m running out of time,” Taylor looked pained, “I wouldn’t ask, but I really don’t want to do this on my own.”  
“Well…” McNally reasoned, “consider me your escort for the evening. What do you need?”  
Taylor took a glance back down the corridor before he started walking. McNally followed.  
“I’ve been maintaining contact with someone else who escaped from Seth in Chadron,” Taylor admitted first.  
“Chadron?” McNally frowned, “there were no survivors from Chadron.”  
“Seth had time between when we broke out and when you guys showed up,” Taylor shook his head, “he moved some kids to another base somewhere. In the rush, a few got away.”  
“Does Devon know about this?”  
“No,” Taylor covered him, “I haven’t told anyone. She begged me not to, and I kind of owe her.”  
“Her?”  
Taylor took a deep breath, knowing he was already betraying her confidence. But with the new threat from Seth fresh in his mind, he wasn’t about to walk outside without someone to cover him.  
“Her name’s Kadie,” he spilled, “she called again today. She was the one on the phone earlier when it was charging. She’s coming here, tonight. She said she needed to see me.”  
“You don’t think that sounds weird?” McNally frowned again.  
“No I don’t,” Taylor replied, “because I know exactly how she feels. I’ve been there.”


	11. 11

“You do realise that if anything happens I could lose my job,” McNally was evidently nervous, regardless of the armoury he was carrying, “I could be dishonourably discharged from the army.”  
“No one in the world is more scared of Seth than I am right now,” Taylor insisted as they made it to the outside door, “believe me, if I thought he was anywhere near here I wouldn’t even think about it. But he took Ike this morning. Following his pattern, that means he’ll be taking him straight to whatever training base he’s currently working from. Usually that’s a good half a day drive away from wherever he picks us up.”  
“Discounting Waco.”  
“That was Krüger, not Seth,” Taylor corrected as they stopped.  
McNally gave his clearance to the guard posted at the door and they were nodded through.  
“Seth’s always been a lot more reserved. I think he’s just been in the game too long,” Taylor went on as they stepped out into a well-lit car park, “but don’t get me wrong, he’s also tactical.”  
He paused for a moment to take a deep breath. He hadn’t been outside at all in weeks.  
“Where do we go?” McNally was on alert already, hand on his gun as his eyes darted.  
“I’m not sure,” Taylor frowned, “she just said the northern entrance. That’s here, right?”  
“…Right.”  
He looked back over his shoulder, seeing that no one else had come out with them. Most of the day staff had already gone, and the on duty soldiers and specialists were all hard at work inside. The next shift wouldn’t be arriving until just before midnight. With a glance up at one of the security cameras, Taylor folded his arms.  
“What’s the time?” he asked McNally, who was looking to the side of the building curiously.  
He looked back to Taylor and indicated in that direction. Taylor looked over to see a blonde head gingerly peeking around the corner. He held himself back from taking off at a run, but he made to jog over to her. He only got a few feet before McNally pulled him up by the arm.  
“Not too far from the door,” he instructed.  
When Kadie had seen Taylor she’d stepped out from the corner, but she paused when she saw McNally grab him. But once Taylor looked back and beckoned to her she carefully began forward.  
“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said as she got closer, looking like she was about to cry again.  
“I told you I’d be here for you,” Taylor’s brow furrowed as he pulled her into a tight hug.  
Kadie closed her eyes as she curled in, listening to his heartbeat.   
“I missed you,” she whispered.  
He frowned as he looked out across the car park over her head.  
“Kadie… is your brother here?” he asked.  
“Yeah,” she sniffled a little, “why?”  
“Because I really think you should come inside and stay with us,” Taylor insisted for what he felt was the thousandth time, including every time she’d ever called him.  
Kadie seemed to hesitate, before she sniffed again and began to let him go. She turned to look back to where she’d come from.  
“Jake?!” she called out, though not overly loud.  
A boy no older than seventeen appeared from around the corner. As he drew closer, Taylor realised he recognised him. He’d been one of the boys brought in at the same time as Kadie. The one who Seth had ordered surgery to be done on.  
“Jake, is it?” Taylor greeted, stepping aside Kadie to offer his hand, “I’m Taylor.”


	12. 12

Jake backed off cautiously as McNally cleared his throat.  
“Taylor, we should be going…” he suggested.  
Taylor turned back to protest just in time to see the front of his vest practically explode. Frozen from the unexpected hit, McNally went to raise his gun just in time to be too late. A second bullet hit him in the head and he went down for good.  
Eyes wide, Taylor turned back in order to grab Kadie and make a break for the door, when he saw the gun in Jake’s hand.  
“What the-?!”  
“Oh my God,” Kadie breathed, looking like she was going to be sick, “are they even on a loop yet?!”  
“What?” Taylor’s mind was racing, unable to focus completely on what was happening but ready to grab Kadie and run all the same.  
“Of course it is,” a new voice came from behind where McNally had been standing, “I wouldn’t have signalled otherwise. Grab him – we need to get going.”  
Taylor felt a chill creep down his spine as he recognised the voice. As he looked over his shoulder his suspicions were confirmed – it was Jerry, his guard from Chadron. To his right Jack was already making his way over.  
“You set me up?” he turned back to Kadie incredulously, backing away from the advancing duo (and by proxy the door to inside).  
Kadie didn’t reply. Her eyes were on Jerry as she kept her mouth covered.  
Taylor knew that between the two larger men and Jake on the opposite side with the gun, he was going to hit the wall very soon and they’d be on him. In order to use anything the soldiers had managed to teach him, he’d have to concentrate on one of them at a time.  
Jake seemed scared. It must have been one of his first ground missions. Eyeing Jerry again for a moment and knowing that if this didn’t work out the way he intended he’d only _hopefully_ live to regret it, he made the split second decision and darted for the youngest of the group.  
Jake’s eyes widened and darted toward Jerry as if to ask what to do, but before Jerry could tell him to shoot Taylor had taken the boy’s arm and twisted it back. Unable to cry out at the pain it involved, Jake dropped the gun as Taylor kicked his knee out with a grunt to force him to the ground.  
Jack dove for the gun. Seeing him go for it and considering Jake out of commission for the time being, Taylor dove for it at the same time and managed to kick it further back.   
“If you want to play games…” Taylor’s head darted up as Jerry spoke, “we can play games.”  
He couldn’t help but gulp a little as Jerry pulled a Taser from his belt. Seth must have spoken to him.  
“You can’t take me back,” Taylor shook his head, “he’s going to kill me anyway.”  
“Our orders are to bring you in alive,” Jerry assured, “but he never said anything about in one piece.”  
“It’s true,” Kadie spoke up as if trying to reassure him, “Seth wants you alive.”  
“Probably so he can kill me himself!” Taylor scorned, “there’s no way I’m getting out alive!”  
“No one gets out alive,” Kadie suddenly smirked.  
Taylor watched as Jake recovered. He was now between the four of them and the gun he’d kicked away, but he knew that if he ran for it the Taser would be fired before he got too far.  
He couldn’t decide between running for it regardless or staying to fight. If he fought he might have a chance despite being outnumbered, but if he was Tasered he knew they’d gain the upper hand.  
But if he could at least hit Jerry with the gun, he knew he’d really only have Jack to contend with.  
He ran for the gun.


	13. 13

Taylor’s fingers barely graced the handle of the gun before he felt the pins in his back and he fell to his knees in convulsions. Cursing inside his head that his arms weren’t slightly longer, he fell onto his side and could only look up as the two men came to rest over him.  
Before he regained control of his arms he felt something slip over his head. When he felt it tighten before looking up to see the pole it was attached to, he panicked when he realised it was a garrotte.  
As soon as he could move his hands flew to his throat to ward off the wire.  
“Get on your feet,” Jerry ordered, “Jake – get the car.”  
Taylor barely registered the kid running off as his nails struggled to grip the wire while he choked. Feeling Jerry lift the other end of the pole made him scramble to his knees.  
“Get on your feet!” Jerry’s voice rose, tugging on the pole further.  
Taylor coughed and managed to pull himself up. He couldn’t do anything but try to get the wire off, but Jerry had it pulled so tight he was sure his neck would start bleeding.  
He couldn’t understand how no one had heard the shot that killed McNally, or seen footage of what was going on yet. This was supposed to be a secure area.  
Jerry loosened the grip slightly so that Taylor could catch his breath, but not enough for him to get the wire off.  
“Please,” he choked out, “don’t do this. Not again.”  
He looked to the side as he finally managed to gets his fingers through the wire. A late model Subaru pulled up beside them and the trunk was lifted.  
“No!” Taylor realised, eyes widening as he pulled against the wire with all his might.  
But Jerry had already pushed the pole toward it, forcing Taylor back against the car. Jack appeared at his side and bent over to grab his legs. His hands occupied with trying to keep himself from choking again, Taylor couldn’t defend his legs as Jake reappeared to help Jack lift him into the trunk.  
The pole having gotten caught on the way in, Taylor took another moment to cough and catch his breath before trying to sit up.  
Jerry slammed the end of the pole down onto the floor of the trunk making Taylor hit his head on the carpet. With a groan he didn’t have time to recover before Jack took him by the hair to remove the wire before slamming the trunk shut. Taylor cursed as it hit his knee. He barely fit in as it was.  
As he heard the four of them walk around to get into the car, he desperately tried to control the panic rising in his chest as his hands blindly felt for the lid.  
At least his hands were free this time. He might be able to do more than he had when he was in the same situation with Nate and Bernard. Unfortunately this car was smaller than the one they’d had him in, and he was a bit bigger than he had been ten years earlier before he’d stopped growing…  
He jumped as the brake lights came on when the car was started and it began to move almost immediately.  
“No no no…” he breathed, his mind racing to try and think of something.  
The tail lights were too small to do what he’d done to the other car.  
He began to feel around the trunk with his hands, trying to find something to use in his favour. The whole thing was empty aside from a bag he was squashed against. Feeling for the zipper he opened it to see if there was anything in it to use, but he flinched back when all he touched was leather and metallic rings.  
Taking a moment to compose himself, he felt around the flooring. He knew it would be hard to move anywhere, but they might have forgotten about the tyre-changing tools usually beneath the carpet.


	14. 14

Knowing he had to be quick if anyone at the Pentagon was going to notice anything out of the ordinary, Taylor struggled to shift himself around in order to lift the flooring and feel beneath it. He soon came across a tyre iron and managed to wedge it out of its lock, falling again onto his back once he had it in his hands.  
He didn’t wait longer than he needed to catch his breath before aiming the end of it for the tail light near his head. After the third hit the light broke out and he had to lean against the edge of the hole as the car suddenly screeched to a halt.  
He didn’t know what to expect from Jerry, so he kept the iron ready to defend himself with as he heard two sets of footfalls exit the car and come to the back.  
“What the…?” one voice was Kadie’s.  
“Don’t open it, it’s what he wants,” he heard Jerry order, “come on. We need to get him to Rockville ASAP.”  
‘Rockville?’ Taylor mouthed to himself, wondering at staying so close to the Pentagon.  
Opening the trunk was the last thing Taylor wanted right now. What he wanted was for someone to notice the broken tail light and pull them over for it. Better yet, for the military to start paying attention and realise that he was in there.  
He heard them make their way back to their doors before getting in and moving off again. Wondering if he had some leeway with the amount of noise he could now make, Taylor tried to feel for the catch holding the trunk closed. When he found it, he aimed the tyre iron and began hitting that as hard as he could. He felt the car slow for a moment after the third hit, but it soon sped up again with the stereo turned up loud. Taylor grunted as he kept hitting the catch, figuring they’d assumed he was just trying to make noise.  
After multiple tries and nothing happening, Taylor carefully felt for it with his hand again. He’d certainly done some damage, but he hoped he was breaking it free rather than making it so he couldn’t get out at all.  
Trying not to think of what they might do to the car if that happened, he continued hitting the catch with the tyre iron as hard as he could. He wasn’t gaining much momentum from the cramped space, but it seemed to be working nonetheless.  
When the catch suddenly broke, the trunk sprang open a few inches. He debated for a few short seconds whether to take the iron with him, but decided to ditch it in favour of a quick getaway.  
He threw the lid up and sat up in the trunk, lights from a car following a few hundred yards behind them momentarily blinding him. It was barely seconds before the car’s brakes locked and it swerved dramatically across the dark highway, making Taylor fall back again. As soon as it slowed however he was back up and had hit the bitumen hard.  
Grunting as he rolled onto his knees and got to his feet, he nursed the shoulder he’d landed on as he glanced back to see the car come to a halt on the other side of the road. A look back saw the car behind them braking as well, but Taylor waited no longer. As he heard the doors opening he bolted for the side of the highway and jumped to scale the fence.  
He cursed as he hit the barbs at the top, momentarily wishing he’d taken off his jacket and used it to cover them. A gunshot pulled him from those thoughts and he grit his teeth to bare the pain.  
The bullet hit the fencing a few yards away as Taylor got to the top, and a second hit just below him. Jumping to the ground on the other side, he didn’t wait to hear where the next ones landed before he bolted into the darkness of the surrounding trees.


	15. 15

He hadn’t gone far when he came to the bank of a river. As he looked back over his shoulder he could hear Jerry’s shouts, but he had no way of knowing if either Jack or Jake were on the hunt with him.  
Looking back out at the water, he decided to ditch left. He knew he’d be leaving tracks in the dirt but if he could get enough space between he and them he might eventually come up with a way to confuse them.  
He ran until he was almost out of breath. He couldn’t hear them closing in on him, but figured they’d at least be having trouble following his footprints in the dark. He was trying to decide between potentially getting back to the road and waving down a car, or crossing the river. Winter was definitely closing in so he knew the water would be freezing, but there was a good chance he’d live if he wasn’t seen or if Jerry simply wasn’t a good shot with the gun.  
As he came to a particular set of trees, he paused in his tracks. One had fallen to lean against another, and it looked easy enough to climb. Thinking it would be too much of a giveaway, he opted to keep moving until he found another that he actually could climb on its own.  
It didn’t take long and he launched himself from the ground up to the first branch. It was only here where he discovered how cut up his hands had gotten from the fence. Once again gritting his teeth and keeping anything audible to himself, he struggled through as he pulled himself up further into the low-lying branches. When he was far enough up that he had trouble seeing the ground through the prongs, he started to slow his breathing and began to listen carefully.  
It was a surprisingly short amount of time before he heard them coming. As they got closer, Taylor realised Jerry was talking on the phone. If he hadn’t been talking to either Jack or Jake, it only made him worry more about where they were.  
“I’m telling you, I can’t see him,” Jerry’s voice was easily heard over the river gently hitting the nearby bank and the traffic up on the highway, “I don’t care what it says, he’s not here!”  
Taylor had frozen, knowing he was more likely to be seen or heard if he moved. He could just barely make out the shine of the cell phone against Jerry’s ear, but that was all he could see of him.  
“Are you sure it’s to the yard? Maybe it has a bigger radius. You did never test it, from what I remember.”  
As Taylor heard the responding crackle come through while Jerry passed by just underneath him, he suddenly felt his blood run cold as he realised what Jerry was talking about.  
They were tracking the tracer in his arm.  
Closing his eyes and praying that they’d continue thinking it was a malfunction, he tried to stop himself panicking by concentrating on listening for any other footsteps. He knew Jerry wouldn’t have come alone.  
“There is _nothing_ here!” Jerry was getting annoyed, “there’s trees, and a river. So where exactly do you…?”  
Taylor heard him pause as the voice came louder through the line. Instinctively he knew that Seth had just told him to look up.  
He heard a click, and the next thing to happen was a bullet hitting the branch just near his left hand.  
“Get down!” Jerry ordered as Taylor climbed back a little, “or the next one’s not gonna miss!”  
“Seth wants me alive,” Taylor hit back, still not able to see exactly where he was shooting from, “you really think you’re that good of a shot?”  
“Let’s find out,” Jerry grumbled, putting his phone away.


	16. 16

Taylor pulled his feet up onto the branch he was sitting on, knowing Jerry couldn’t aim for them without potentially hitting him in the chest or head.  
“Jack!” he heard Jerry call.  
Taylor grit his teeth, wondering what the younger man was going to do. When he heard him start to climb the tree, he picked himself up and began climbing further.  
“This will be a lot easier for you if you just come down,” Jerry insisted from below.  
“Easier?!” Taylor was incredulous, “Seth wants to kill me! If I have to choose between that and staying up here for a week, guess what wins?!”  
Taylor jumped as a second bullet was fired into the tree. He didn’t see where it went, but as he recovered he saw Jack closing in on him.  
Grabbing for a branch just above his head, he wasn’t expecting Jack to suddenly latch onto his ankle.  
“Jack! No!”  
He tried to kick him off, but the grip was firm. He vainly tried to remember which shoulder he’d shot him in, thinking he might be able to use it as an advantage to get away, but he just couldn’t remember.  
With a groan he pulled himself further along the branch he was already on, but Jack now had hold of his knee.  
“Jack! Please!” Taylor insisted, “we’re both going to fall!”  
“Just get him down!” Jerry ordered, “we’ll worry about broken bones later!”  
“Dammit,” Taylor cursed, struggling to keep a hold of the branch with his injured hands.  
As Jack got a better grip on his jeans, Taylor tried to move further up again. But the branch was getting thinner, and the next fork he grabbed snapped off in his hand. With a yelp he spun underneath the branch, held up only by the grip with his left hand and by Jack holding his leg still. Before Jack could let him go he managed to grab on with his right hand. Immediately trying to find a branch below that he could drop to, he didn’t see Jack suddenly lunge for him. The added weight ripped Taylor’s hands from the branch and they both hit the ground hard.  
Panic overtaking the pain he was in, Taylor scrambled to his feet only to be tackled by Jerry. He hit the ground again with a grunt and before he could regain his senses Jake seemed to come out of nowhere and grab his right arm to pull it behind him.  
“Don’t!” Taylor hissed, feeling Jerry go for his left.  
Before he got it he managed to grab a handful of dirt and aim it for Jerry’s face, temporarily blinding him. As Jerry cursed and maniacally brushed the dirt from his face, Taylor turned onto his side to try and push Jake off before Jack could recover from the fall enough to help.   
Taylor had enough adrenaline working for him to be able to push Jake back onto the ground. As he fell he finally let go of Taylor’s arm, and Taylor managed to pull himself to his hands and knees. Before he could make it to his feet he heard another blast and felt the pins from the Taser hit him in the back.  
Convulsing uncontrollably, he went down again. This time he couldn’t recover before the others.  
“I’ve had enough of this,” he heard Jerry scowl as he worked to catch his breath.  
He felt Jake take hold of his shoulders and push him down into the dirt before pulling his arms behind him. They didn’t remove the pins, and Taylor knew another shock was coming.  
The second he tried to move his legs to push himself up Jerry pulled the trigger again.  
“Enough!” Jerry ordered, “Jake? Get the binder on him. We need to move out. Now!”


	17. 17

In moments Taylor felt Jack’s knee in his back as he held his arms up to go into the leather binder. But he wasn’t ready to give up just yet.  
As he looked to his right he saw Jake’s outline as he unzipped the bag from the trunk. The sight of the buckles reflecting the light was enough to give him another adrenaline boost.   
Unable to use his legs to push him up, he dug his forehead into the ground and twisted both arms at the same time. Jack kept his weight firmly on his knee in Taylor’s back to keep him down, but the second he let go of his right arm Taylor tried to push himself up again. At the same time Jack suddenly whistled, and Jerry once again pulled the trigger on the Taser.  
Currently defeated, Taylor felt the binder go on before he regained control. Once he could move, all he could do was groan as he began to succumb to the injuries he’d sustained.  
“Get him up,” Jerry grumbled as Taylor finally felt the pins being removed.  
Once the binder had been completely buckled up, both Jack and Jake took hold of the rings and dragged him to his feet. Jerry was now rummaging in the bag, pulling out something dark.  
“What are you doing?” Taylor barely got out, the tiredness in his voice surprising even him.  
Jerry didn’t bother to humour him. The next thing to happen was a cloth gag going in his mouth which Jake tied around the back, before Jerry followed it up with a black hood. Jack kept hold of the binder the whole time so that Taylor couldn’t even back away from them.   
He felt something go around his neck to hold it on before Jerry ordered them to get moving.  
Taylor managed to keep his claustrophobia under control purely because it was pitch black outside and he reasoned that the hood may even be see-through and he still wouldn’t see anything. But only just.  
He felt himself being led back up to the road, and through where he assumed they’d cut a hole in the wire fence. The car was just in front of it, probably in order to conceal the hole from passing traffic.  
In an effort for him to not be seen, he was hastily shoved into the back seat between who he assumed were Jack and Jake.   
“Is he okay? There’s blood on his shirt,” he heard Kadie’s voice from the driver’s seat.  
“He’s fine,” Jerry grumbled as he got into the passenger side, “just drive. We’re already late.”  
The car took off as Taylor tried to adjust his right shoulder, which was the one he’d hit the road with earlier. Noticing the movement one of the boys in the back leant over and quickly strapped his seatbelt on so he couldn’t move forward. Taylor just grunted in response, not having even thought of trying it earlier.  
He spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to work out how he could possibly make the car crash from where he was. Unfortunately they found Rockville before he could come up with anything useful.  
Feeling himself start to shake as the car came to a halt, he was swiftly pulled out and made to walk through some noisy sliding doors and down an echoing hallway. He couldn’t make out anything through the hood, so he couldn’t tell what kind of building they were in.  
They soon came to a room where he was shoved to his knees on rickety floorboards.   
“Finally you’re here,” he froze up as he heard Seth’s voice, “let’s get this show on the road. Everyone not taking part, get out.”  
Multiple footsteps echoed as they left the room. Taylor had no idea how many were left, but he knew that Seth was standing just in front of him.  
Clenching his fists, he began praying that he’d at least get the hood off again before he died.


	18. 18

Zac was just about to say goodnight to Dekker and head back to his quarters when Taylor’s phone started ringing.  
“Seems a bit late,” Dekker frowned, eyeing it.  
Zac looked worried as he eyed the screen.  
“It’s video, and I don’t know the number…” he admitted, “do you think?”  
“Standby,” Dekker called into his radio, “we may have Creed’s call.”  
“What if it is?” Zac’s eyes darted between Dekker’s.  
“Go straight to interview room two. They’ll have the tap set up ready. I’ll radio Devon to go and fetch Taylor.”  
Zac took a deep breath and nodded, before finally pressing the button to answer it. Seth’s face came onscreen and Zac hastily nodded to Dekker. Zac took off before a word was said as Dekker lowered his voice while radioing it in.  
“Good evening,” Seth greeted, already taking note that Zac was moving.  
“So what is this?” Zac shrugged, “a social call? Or are you going to try and blackmail us?”  
He caught a short smirk from Seth.  
“I think you know exactly what this is,” Seth reasoned.   
Zac made it to the room and stepped inside. Two soldiers were there and Seth’s face was already on the big screen. One of them was working frantically on a nearby laptop trying to trace the call.  
“Quit playing games, Seth,” Zac didn’t know whether to focus on the phone screen or on the wall, “just tell us what you want.”  
“I would have thought it was obvious,” Seth drawled as he stood back a little, “but we want you.”  
‘Just me?’ Zac mouthed to himself, confused.  
As he’d stepped back Seth had revealed three dark shapes behind him. People on their knees with black hoods over their heads.  
“And I’m going to give you three chances…” Seth continued, pointing to them, “one, two, three.”  
“What are you talking about?” Zac scowled, looking over his shoulder as Dekker stepped past.  
Two men in balaclavas and camouflage stood behind the three armed with AK-47s. At Seth’s indication they both took a step forward and removed the hoods. On the left was Private Vance, and on the right was Isaac. Seth paused dramatically before taking the hood himself from the one in the centre. Zac’s eyes widened.  
“Guys that’s Tay,” he realised, eyes darting between the soldiers in the room, “how did he get Tay?!”  
“I’d be less worried about how I acquired him as opposed to what I’ll do with him now that I have him,” Seth reasoned, casting the hood aside.  
Taylor had locked terrified eyes with Isaac, not even seeing Vance to his right yet.  
Zac took a moment to process what was going on before he eyed the men behind them.  
“So what are you going to do?” he finally asked, at the same time wondering where Devon was.  
“Three chances,” Seth repeated, standing to the side, “for you to agree to give yourself up.”  
“Give myself up?” Zac looked incredulous as Taylor finally eyed Vance.  
The man behind him stepped forward and held the AK-47 to his head.  
“So what’ll it be?” Seth’s eyebrows rose.  
“What do I do?!” Zac eyed Dekker, panic rising in his chest, “what’s the…? Dekker what do I do?!”  
Dekker grit his teeth knowing he had to make the call. But right now, Zac was his priority.  
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” he lay down the law.


	19. 19

“A pity,” Seth shrugged before the trigger was pulled.  
Taylor let out an exclamation as Vance fell forward, long gone. Before he could fall back and make an attempt to get away, the man who’d shot Vance stepped forward and grabbed the ring on his binder to hold him still.  
The gun was then held to his head.  
“Second chance,” Seth looked to the camera determinedly as Isaac began hyperventilating through his gag.  
He and Vance had both been restrained identically to Taylor, with binders and cloth gags.  
“Seth don’t!” Zac pleaded, the sight alone of the gun to Taylor’s head after what they’d just witnessed making him sick.  
“You can stop this Zac,” Seth reassured, “all you have to say is yes.”  
“Then yes!” Zac insisted, “I swear, if you let them go I’ll come in. I promise!”  
“Zac!” Dekker scorned.  
“I don’t care what the protocol is!” Zac scowled at him, “I’m not watching him shoot my brother!”  
“I’m afraid ‘letting them go’ was never part of the negotiation,” Seth clarified, the gunman that held Taylor not moving, “you’ll be coming in in return for my not killing them.”  
Taylor tried to protest that Seth was going to kill him anyway, but nothing came out legible.  
Zac rubbed his face as he tried to ignore the consequences of what he was doing.  
“Fine,” he agreed, “if you promise not to kill them, I’ll come in.”  
“Zac I can’t let you do this,” Dekker warned.  
“Whether you let me or not, if I want to go it’s going to be doubly hard for you to keep me here,” Zac insisted.  
“I’m sure we’ll all work out a way for you to join us,” Seth assured, “if that is really what you want to do.”  
“It is,” Zac reinforced, “just tell me how and when. And for Pete’s sake let Taylor go.”  
Seth smiled and nodded to the gunman. He dropped the binder and took a step back, Taylor falling to the side as he lost his balance. Already Isaac was breathing easier, but the gunman behind him wouldn’t let him even try to get to his brother.  
“We’ll be in contact,” Seth assured, before stepping forward to turn the camera off.  
The call cut out and Zac dropped the phone onto the table.  
“How the Hell did he get Taylor?!” he demanded, “where’s Devon and McNally?! They should have been watching him!”  
“I sincerely hope you’re not intending on following through with this,” Dekker’s aggravation matched his.  
“Damn straight I am,” Zac scowled, “and you know what? I have actually thought this through. For once. Seth’s going to send me back to Alaska, right? You guys found me before, you can find me again. And Alaska – aside from what it was – was actually not that bad in comparison to what Tay went through. So if I have to choose between shooting a few wild bears and watching my brothers die, guess which I’m gonna go with?”  
Dekker grunted frustratedly before pulling out his radio.  
“Isn’t Taylor the one Seth wants dead anyway?” one of the other soldiers commented, “what’s to say he isn’t killing him right now?”  
“Because if he wants me back, Seth’s going to have to prove they’re both still alive,” Zac insisted.


	20. 20

“Get him out of here,” Seth indicated Isaac, “and let’s hit the road before they trace us.”  
Taylor watched as Isaac was pulled to his feet and practically manhandled from the room. They didn’t even make eye contact again before he disappeared.  
“What about this one?” the man who’d shot Vance indicated Taylor.  
Taylor’s eyes landed on Seth, worried at what he was going to do with him now that Zac had agreed to come in. Seth couldn’t hide his anger as he looked down at him.  
“Take him to Connor’s base,” he instructed, “I’m sure he’ll be the first person he wants to see when he gets out of prison.”  
Taylor’s brow furrowed. The last thing he expected was to meet the third Creed. He didn’t know where he was being held, but he remembered Nate’s escape from ADMAX all too well.  
“I’ll come see him in a few days. Until then keep an eye on him,” Seth instructed the gunman, “if I see the tracer move from the dungeon it’ll be your head.”  
“Yes Sir,” the man acknowledged before Seth simply left the room.  
Frowning in confusion, Taylor was pulled to his feet and taken in the same direction as Isaac. They met with Jerry in the hall where the gunman relayed Seth’s orders and Jerry nodded.  
“We’ll take the Mercedes,” he nodded over his shoulder, “kids are already in it.”  
As the gunman gave Taylor a shove forward, he began to follow Jerry down the hall to the sliding doors. As they made their way outside Taylor was surprised to find they’d simply been at an old house.  
Sitting in the driveway was Krüger’s black Mercedes.  
Taylor faltered when he saw it, remembering the last time he was in it. The army hadn’t found it where he and Isaac had left it in the alley in Austin, but he’d always assumed they would have destroyed it. It was Krüger’s after all.  
He was taken to the back door and shoved in, feeling hands grab his shoulders once he was in to pull him back toward the grate. With a glance he saw that it was Jack, and Kadie and Jake were also in there.   
He hit the grate with the binder and stopped to catch his breath.  
“Where are we going?” Kadie looked to Jerry as he followed Taylor in.  
“Connor’s base,” he revealed, “he’ll be spending some time in the dungeon while Seth concentrates on getting Connor out.”  
“Will we stay there? Can we stay there?” Kadie asked, shifting over to sit beside Taylor.  
He eyed her suspiciously, wondering what she was doing.  
“I don’t think Seth needs you for anything else, so yeah. Sure,” Jerry shrugged.  
“Great,” Kadie smiled, attempting to straighten the front of Taylor’s jacket.  
He heard the gunman getting into the driver’s seat before the Mercedes started and pulled out.   
“Oh you’re shaking,” Kadie suddenly caught his attention again, “don’t be afraid. You’re supposed to be the brave one, remember?”  
Taylor just gave her an incredulous look, unable to reply.   
“And I know you’re probably angry with me right now,” Kadie reasoned when she saw the look he gave her, “and that’s okay. But you have to understand that a lot of work went into that. I didn’t just call you out of the blue one day, a lot of planning went into it. Seth was rather proud.”  
Taylor just moaned and turned his head away. He knew Jack and Jake were both watching.  
“You’ll forgive me,” Kadie seemed confident as she gave his chest a pat, “one day. I’m sure.”


	21. 21

“Zac I am so, so sorry.”  
Zac looked up from the chair in the interview room as Devon appeared in the doorway.  
“Where were you?” his eyes narrowed, not even acknowledging the apology.  
“Andrews called a meeting about Ike earlier,” Devon explained, walking in and pulling up a chair beside him, “I figured he’d be okay with McNally for a while. I still don’t see how this even happened.”  
“Has anyone found McNally?” Zac looked between Devon and the other soldier still in the room with him, “have we worked out if he was dirty?”  
“Dekker’s trawling through security footage as we speak,” the other soldier replied.  
“Has anyone told Monroe?” Devon asked him.  
“Word’s getting around,” he assured.  
Zac leant his elbow on the table and put his head in his hand.  
“I swear, this had to have happened so fast,” he said softly, “Tay gave me his phone and told me he was going to have an early night. That wasn’t even two hours before Seth called.”  
“Two hours?” Devon frowned.  
He tapped his fingers on the table before standing up.  
“Then they must still be close,” he said decidedly, “Jenkins. Can we get some highway footage onscreen?”  
“Sure,” the soldier shrugged, ducking over to the laptop and typing away.  
“Focus on roads heading out of the city,” Devon ordered, “the 395, the 400, the George-Washington, etcetera.”  
“What are we looking for?” Jenkins asked as Zac watched the screen curiously.  
“For now? Anything out of the ordinary,” Devon shrugged, “until we work out exactly what happened we won’t know what vehicle we’re looking for.”  
He paused as a crackle came through the radio before lifting it to respond.  
“Go for Devon. What’s up Carter?”  
“Yeah we traced Hanson through to the northern entrance via CCTV. McNally was with him, but seemed reluctant. Once they hit the outside the footage appears to have been looped.”  
“What do you mean ‘looped’?” Devon frowned as Zac looked up.  
“Meaning we can’t see anything. Someone hacked into our security feeds to make sure we couldn’t see them outside. McNally’s body’s been found just outside the door.”  
“Why would he go out there?” Zac frowned, “it doesn’t make any sense. He knows he still has the tracker, and Seth just told him to stay away from the outer walls.”  
Devon had paused at hearing that McNally had been killed.  
“What else?” he asked after a moment.  
“There seems to be pieces of a broken tail light in the car park. No one remembers it being there before, so your boy might have left some breadcrumbs.”  
“Go Tay,” Zac said under his breath, returning his attention to the screen.  
“Okay we’re looking for a car with a broken tail light,” Devon informed Jenkins before picking up the radio again, “what time did they leave?”  
When he received the reply Jenkins programmed in the time code and four squares showing footage from four different highways appeared on screen.  
“Looks like a slow traffic night,” Jenkins reasoned, “we might get lucky.”


	22. 22

“There,” Devon pointed to the screen.  
Jenkins froze the footage from the George-Washington highway which showed a silver Subaru with a missing left tail light.  
“You think that’s them?” Zac looked hopeful.  
“If it isn’t it’s one heck of a coincidence,” Devon shrugged.  
“Can we follow them?” Zac looked to Jenkins.  
“Looking it up now,” Jenkins assured, typing away again.  
Devon picked up his radio to call it in as the footage disappeared, replaced by a map of the highway with the various locations of cameras highlighted along the route. He chose one further up to focus on, clocking in the time stamp and waiting.  
The Subaru passed again. So he did the same further up.  
“Can we get a highway patrol out there in case this Subaru is still in the area?” Devon said into his radio.  
A confirmation came through before Devon focused on the screen again.  
“Take it all the way up and see if we can find a turn off point,” he instructed.  
Jenkins selected a camera up near the Capital Beltway and set the time code. They waited a while before Devon frowned.  
“They wouldn’t have turned off at Dolley Madison, surely,” he looked to Jenkins.  
“I can go back,” Jenkins offered, fixing the footage just as another call came through Devon’s radio.  
“Go for Devon.”  
He paused as he listened, his frown growing deeper.  
“Why are we just hearing about this now?!”  
Zac looked up, not having been able to make out what Carter was saying. Now he was listening.  
“How long ago did this happen?”  
“About an hour or so. Just across from the CIA, but the other side of the road.”  
“Get the cameras up from the G-W near the CIA,” Devon ordered Jenkins, who immediately did so.  
He had a choice of two either side. One showed the Subaru going through, the other it didn’t show.  
“What happened?” Zac looked between them.  
“Get those cops on the ground now,” Devon ordered into the radio, “follow it, and find it.”  
When Carter gave confirmation on the order Devon returned his attention to Zac.  
“State cops got a call from a motorist on the George-Washington reporting someone escaping from a car trunk in the middle of the highway.”  
“What?!” Zac held back the urge to stand up, “he escaped?! How?!”  
“This would have been before Seth’s call so don’t get too excited,” Devon insisted, “where’s the cameras?!”  
“The car stopped somewhere in between the two,” Jenkins shook his head, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have footage.”  
“Dammit,” Devon cursed.  
“If Seth got Tay anyway, the car had to keep going,” Zac pointed out, “so it has to show up eventually. Then we can keep following it.”  
“Can you zoom in on that shot?” Devon pointed to one of the car on approach.  
“Four occupants,” Jenkins confirmed as the image enlarged, “might be able to get the faces of the two in front, but not the back.”


	23. 23

It took another half hour or so, but Jenkins both managed to get a somewhat clear visual of the two people in the front of the car – one of whom Zac recognised very clearly – and follow the car all the way up to Rockville. Devon ordered a SWAT team to approach the house, but the state cops had already reported that the Subaru was the only car in the driveway.  
The three of them along with a sleepy Monroe and determined Dekker anxiously waited to watch the raid via SWAT helmet cams which had already been wired to their screen.  
“What are they expecting to find?” Zac’s eyes darted between views from different agents.  
“Anything from more potential victims to an empty house. I sincerely doubt Seth’s still on the premises,” Devon shook his head.  
“Anything is something, right?” Zac murmured.  
They barely had to wait minutes before the SWAT hit the house. They could see the Subaru out front, and the glass sliding doors around back which one of the agents simply smashed through. Half having gone through the front and half through the back, they met in a hall before two turned into the room with the camera.  
The camera was still set up beside a laptop, and Vance was still on the ground in front of it. Shouts of ‘Clear!’ told them the rest of the house was empty.  
“They’re gone,” Dekker stated the obvious, immediately leaving the room.  
“Why would they leave the car there?” Zac frowned, not taking his eyes from the screen.  
“The tail light, probably,” Monroe offered, “they knew it would be traced back to here. Better to abandon it than have us catch up with them less than a state over.”  
“Can we get a visual on what other car they might have taken?” Zac asked.  
“There’s no eyes on the street there, we had to rely on the cops to find the house,” Jenkins shrugged, “but I’m trying to drum up some satellite footage to see if that helps. Maybe we’ll at least get an idea of how many there were even if we can’t see what they are.”  
“Whatever you’re doing, do it fast,” Devon insisted, “we need to try and cross them before they leave Maryland.”  
“And what if they cross back into Virginia?” Monroe asked.  
“There had to be a reason they used Rockville,” Devon insisted, “they must be heading north, either Pennsylvania or Ohio. Maybe northern New York or even Canada.”  
“Canada?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
“So we need to narrow the search _now_ ,” Devon put his game face on.  
“It’s well and good to say that,” Jenkins shrugged, “but getting it done is another thing.”  
“I don’t care how we do it, let’s just do it,” Devon turned to leave the room.  
Zac watched after him, gave the others a glance, and followed.  
“Devon!” he called after him, making the Private stop short.  
Zac made his way over and put a hand on his shoulder.  
“It’s not your fault,” he insisted, “Tay went out there on his own. Who’s to say that even you could have been able to stop him?”  
Devon clenched his jaw before turning to him.  
“There is no way I _ever_ would have let him set foot outside these walls,” his eyes narrowed, “the fact that McNally did? How could he have been so _stupid_?”  
“I’ve been wondering the same thing about my brother,” Zac admitted, “but this is on neither of us.”  
Devon took a deep breath, gave him another glance, and continued down the hallway.


	24. 24

Isaac looked across at Seth from where he sat in the back of the van. They’d been on the road for a good couple of hours, and he had no clue of where they were headed.   
Seth had been uncomfortably staring at him for a good portion of that time.  
“How far did Krüger get with you?” he suddenly asked, his eyes narrowed.  
He nodded to a man beside Isaac, who tentatively removed his gag so that he could reply.  
“What do you mean?” Isaac frowned, still on edge at Vance’s sudden death.  
“Your training,” Seth spoke with his hands, “how far did Krüger get with you? So far it seems as though you’ve been very obedient.”  
Isaac hesitated thoughtfully, not sure of how to answer. On the one hand no, Krüger hadn’t gotten that far at all. On the other he didn’t really want to admit that to the man deciding his fate.  
“I can’t decide on whether it’s just your personality or an actual transition that’s taken place,” Seth added, “I have to admit my surprise at how very different the three of you are.”  
Isaac frowned at that, knowing the Hell his brothers had both been through.  
“Maybe I’ve been fortunate enough to have learnt from their mistakes?” he offered, “but I didn’t think you’d trained either of them personally?”  
“Taylor, yes. For a time,” Seth reasoned, “but not very well I’ll admit. Zac was left to Hudson, who you’ll be meeting shortly. I hear he’s rather enamoured to meet you.”  
Isaac held off on asking why, knowing how much these people hated questions and figuring he’d find out soon enough anyway. Picking up on his purposeful hesitation, Seth narrowed an eye.  
“You’re not at all intrigued as to why?” he baited.  
“Of course I am,” Isaac insisted, “I’m just… trying to remember.”  
“Remember what?”  
Isaac gave him a glance, before looking back at the three other guards in the back of the van with them. None of them were bothering to pay attention.  
“The training,” Isaac admitted, “it’s been a while.”  
“The kind of training Krüger puts his subjects through is very hard to forget,” Seth pointed out, “which suggests you didn’t get very far along after all.”  
Isaac mentally kicked himself, and Seth noticed. He’d slipped up already.  
“How long did he have you?” Seth asked curiously, “keeping in mind that I do have the paperwork.”  
“Then why ask?” Isaac frowned, “if you already know the answer?”  
“To gauge your honesty,” Seth replied instantly, musing at the spark of Taylor’s attitude that seemed to show through, “it certainly won’t be the only test you undertake.”  
“I wasn’t trying to-“ Isaac caught himself before his temper could get the better of him and took a deep breath instead as he tried to twist his left arm in the binder.  
The next time he looked to Seth, he was smirking.  
“So I have to go through training again, is that it?” he finally asked.  
“We have some prospective buyers lined up, yes,” Seth confirmed, “but they’ll hardly take you as you are. The only reason Zac will be barely touching the ground is because his Master is so tired of waiting for him.”  
“Fowler?” Isaac looked worried.  
“Yes, Fowler,” Seth confirmed as he sat back a little.  
“And what about Tay?” Isaac felt he should ask as Seth was answering, “what will you do with him?”  
“Taylor?” Seth’s eyebrows rose, “I plan to kill Taylor at first opportunity.”


	25. 25

Not too long after, Taylor was the first to reach his destination.   
He was well aware that they’d been driving through some dense forests for the past half hour or so, even though it was pitch black outside. It must have been the early hours of the morning by now.  
As the car slowed, Jerry reached over to the bag Jake had been nestling and opened it up.  
“Put this on him,” he threw Kadie an identical hood to the one Taylor had been wearing earlier.  
Keeping calm only because he knew Seth was coming to see him in a few days so he couldn’t be killed, Taylor closed his eyes and had to lean forward as she complied. Because of the hood he couldn’t see anything about the building they’d come to, but unlike the other bases he felt himself being pulled out into the cold night air as opposed to a garage or lobby the car had driven into.  
As he heard everyone get out of the car behind him, he felt rough hands grab either of his arms and assumed it was the gunman and Jerry. They didn’t have to walk far before he was indoors yet again.   
It felt like he was led through a maze of corridors, and what he was hearing wasn’t helping his nerves. As opposed to Seth’s base in Chadron where a lot of yelling could be heard, here all he could hear was wayward wails, sobs, and pleas.   
They hit at least two staircases on their travels, and Taylor could feel the temperature drop as they presumably made their way underground. When he felt them hit dirt someone finally pulled the hood from his head.   
The corridor was dark, lit only by a few tungsten bulbs every five yards or so. All they showed were very few cell doors, and when he tried to turn and look behind him Jerry took hold of his shoulder to stop him.   
As he passed one of the cells he caught a glimpse through the barred window in the door at the occupant inside. And immediately began to freak out.  
What he presumed had once been a man in chains was now nothing more than a skeletal figure with some tissue hanging here and there. His reaction made the gunman look for what he’d seen, and he simply smirked.  
“Guess no one bothered to check down here when Connor got put away,” he mused.  
“We should probably clean that out,” Jerry didn’t seem all that fussed as the two of them struggled to hold Taylor once again.  
He was dragged another two bulbs down to only the fifth but the last door in the hall. The door was open and ready and they shoved him inside none-too-gently. He spied similar iron manacles to what the skeleton had been wearing, and the only other thing in the room was a bar heater in the back left corner.   
The gunman shoved him to the ground by the chains and knelt to secure the shackles around his ankles with padlocks. Taylor looked up in time to see Kadie wander in behind them.  
“Cosy,” she commented, looking around, “but cold.”  
Taylor caught Jerry rolling his eyes as he waited for the gunman to be done before trying to remove the binder. He struggled a bit as the straps were so tight over the jacket Taylor was wearing, and in the end the jacket came off with it. As soon as they were free Taylor’s hands flew to the gag.  
“This is it?” he looked between them as Jerry began to secure his wrists, “you’re just leaving me down here? I’ll freeze!”  
“The heater works. Or it did last I checked,” the gunman said nonchalantly as he took the collar.  
Taylor gulped as it was locked around his neck. The weight was similar to the one Nate had him in. As he looked up at Kadie again wondering why she was there, he jumped as Jerry went for his shoes.


	26. 26

“Last you checked?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose.  
He was ignored. Already feeling cold, he knew it was going to get hard if he didn’t have either his jacket or his shoes – both of which had been thrown to the opposite corner of the room which he knew he couldn’t reach.  
He felt the dread rising in his chest as the final padlock was closed on the shackle on his left wrist and the gunman stood to leave.  
“Seth wants me to stand guard,” he informed Jerry, who finished what he was doing before standing also, “are you staying?”  
Jerry eyed Taylor for a moment as he looked between them and Kadie worriedly.  
“I’ll be around until Seth orders anything different,” he said before following him from the cell.  
Taylor watched him go before his eyes fell on Kadie again. She wasn’t moving.  
It took a moment for her to say anything.  
“I’ve never seen you this scared,” she seemed confused.  
“You didn’t see me in Paris,” Taylor reasoned.  
He looked across at the heater before shaking his head.  
“You know he’s going to kill me, right?” he looked up at her again, “regardless of how long it takes, he _is_ going to kill me.”  
“What makes you so sure?” Kadie tilted her head slightly.  
“I killed his brother,” Taylor’s brow furrowed, “I put a bullet right between his eyes. There’s no way he’s going to let me get away with that. And if he’s waiting for Connor? It’s only because he wants to be in on it.”  
“What if I told you…” Kadie crouched to the ground a few feet away, “that I knew for sure he was going to keep you alive?”  
“For how long?” Taylor’s eyes narrowed, not falling for it.  
“For as long as I want,” Kadie shrugged.  
Taylor took a moment to gather himself, trying not to get worked up.  
“Kadie, whatever he’s told you, he’s lying!” he insisted.  
“How would you know?” Kadie frowned, “you don’t know him. You haven’t spent nearly as much time with him as I have.”  
“I know him,” Taylor assured, having paused only to register that she was right, “obviously I just see a side of him that you don’t. You can’t trust him. And the fact that you think you can worries me.”  
“Aw,” she tilted her head again with a smile, “you’re worried about me?”  
“I was,” Taylor’s eyes darted away for a moment, “but it looks like you’ve been doing pretty well for yourself since I’ve been gone.”  
“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” Kadie shrugged, pulling herself to her feet again.  
Taylor eyed her, knowing exactly what she was talking about.   
“What do you want from me?” he asked her, feeling as though he was missing something.  
She took two steps forward, and he backed himself up against the wall beside where the chains were anchored. The sound of the chain links clinking together echoed in his ears, reminding him he wasn’t going anywhere.  
“Our story is far from over,” she looked down at him in more than a physical way, “we have a lot of catching up to do.”  
Taylor just gulped slightly not sure he wanted to know what she meant by that.


	27. 27

“Why didn’t you just kill him back there then?” Isaac was confused, “you had both motive and opportunity.”  
“Because unfortunately facing the wrath of my brother outweighs any rash decisions I might make,” Seth still didn’t look happy, “that and we do need him as insurance against young Zachary.”  
“Zac won’t come in if he thinks there’s even a minor possibility that you’re going to kill him anyway,” Isaac insisted.  
“I think Zac might surprise you,” Seth seemed to know more than he let on, “but I’m not daft. I’m aware that he’ll probably want proof that the two of you are still breathing. And I’m willing to accommodate him to a point.”  
“Fowler must be someone pretty important for you to go to all this trouble,” Isaac reasoned.  
The stare he got from Seth made him wonder if he was crossing a line. If he had, it was too late to turn back anyway.  
Seth nodded to the man beside Isaac again, and he held back a groan as the gag was replaced.  
“Settle in Isaac,” Seth sighed, “we have a long drive ahead of us yet.”

*

Zac had barely slept. The footage of Vance being shot and the gun being put to Taylor’s head making sure he couldn’t keep his eyes closed for long.  
He glanced across at the clock. They hadn’t retired until the early hours, and it was now nearing 6am. Managing to not disturb Kate as he slipped out of bed, he quickly checked on the kids before leaving his quarters and heading back for the second interview room where the laptop had been left setup.  
When he got there he was surprised to find Devon sifting through the footage.  
“Early start?” Zac asked, making the soldier jump.  
He turned to double check who it was as Zac closed the door behind him.  
“Never finished,” Devon admitted, eyes returning to the screen.  
He paused the footage in the moment before Vance was killed and just stared.  
“Did you get any sleep?” he asked.  
“I got a couple of hours,” Zac shrugged as he took the seat beside him.  
“Liar.”  
Zac smirked. He began wondering if he’d intruded on some kind of homage to Vance.   
“What’s wrong with this picture?” Devon suddenly frowned.  
“Ah… where do I start?” Zac’s eyebrows rose, watching the screen.  
He waited as Devon rose from his seat and made his way around to it.   
“Isaac’s wearing a collar,” he pointed to it, “the other two aren’t.”  
“So… what?” Zac was far too tired to play guessing games, “it could just mean he was more willing to kill the other two.”  
“Maybe,” Devon relented, “or maybe it means more than that. Maybe Isaac’s the only one he ever intended to enter the program.”  
“He’d also only just gotten Tay,” Zac pointed out, “maybe they didn’t have time yet?”  
“Yet they had plenty of time to get the binder on him,” Devon rubbed his chin as his mind raced.  
“What does it matter anyway?” Zac shrugged, “either way, he’s still got both of them in custody.”  
“Yeah, but where?” Devon turned back to face him, “because if Isaac’s going into training and Taylor isn’t, chances are they’re not going to be held at the same base.”


	28. 28

“There’s definitely no satellite footage from the house?” Zac felt the need to ask again.  
“Too much cloud cover,” Devon grunted as he took his seat again, “and because the Subaru never left, we have nothing to follow. I know Jenkins spent the night going through random highway footage trying to spot anything odd and came up with nothing.”  
“It’s been what… ten hours? Eleven?” Zac didn’t look hopeful, “they could be anywhere by now.”  
Devon nodded, before reaching over to the laptop and closing the window. Zac took a breath as the visual disappeared before frowning as he saw Devon bring up an audio file instead. He skipped through to a certain point, and Zac pulled a face when he realised what it was.  
“ _Whether you let me or not, if I want to go it’s going to be doubly hard for you to keep me here,_ ” his voice came through the speakers.  
“I meant to ask you about that,” Devon looked across after pausing it.  
“How much did you hear?” Zac didn’t look at him.  
“I heard the call,” Devon’s determined gaze didn’t waver, “what happened after that? I’ll bet Dekker didn’t take it too well.”  
“He didn’t,” Zac admitted, absently scratching the back of his neck, “I’m surprised he didn’t station extra guards on me in case Seth called during the night.”  
“If you even think for a second that I am going to let you do something stupid after the stunt that Taylor pulled,” Devon’s voice was low, “you’ve got another think coming.”  
“What was I supposed to do?” Zac demanded, finally brave enough to make eye contact, “I was not just going to stand here and watch him blow Tay away. Not after Vance. Do you really think I would have given in if I’d had another option?”  
“No, I don’t,” Devon insisted, “but I’m not letting you go back to Fowler. At least not unprepared.”  
Zac eyed him suspiciously all of a sudden.  
“You’re up to something aren’t you?” he asked.  
“Just don’t jump into anything without letting me know what you’re doing first,” Devon ordered, turning back to the laptop and bringing up some dark highway footage.  
“Do you have a plan?” Zac asked as he watched what he was doing.  
“No,” Devon relented straight off, “but I’m working on a few things.”  
“Does Dekker know? Or Andrews?”  
“No. But the day is young,” Devon admitted.  
Zac smirked, wondering if it would be a good time to ask if Devon was as trustworthy as he seemed. He didn’t get the chance before the door opened again making them both turn around.  
“You’re still here?” Monroe frowned, “I thought I saw the screen on as I was walking past.”  
“He’s still here, I just got up,” Zac corrected.  
“I’ll hit the hay in a minute,” Devon promised, setting the highway footage going again.  
“No, you’ll hit it now,” Monroe corrected, “you’re no good to us without sleep, Private.”  
“He’s right,” Zac insisted with a shrug, “sorry.”  
“You haven’t slept either so don’t start with me,” Devon scorned.  
“I don’t have to, I’m not on the payroll,” Zac pointed out.  
Monroe smirked from the doorway before stepping aside.  
“Come on man. I’ll get someone else in here to keep going before I go see the kids again.”  
“Still watching Monroe and Everett?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
“Orders don’t change just ‘cause Dad’s not home,” Monroe shrugged as Devon finally stood up.


	29. 29

Taylor had been down there for hours and the temperature hadn’t risen much. It had taken less than one for him to be desperate enough to crawl over to the heater to try and figure it out.  
It didn’t take long, but the heater did look like it was on its last legs. He was already worried that if he didn’t at least turn it off every now and then that it could die and he really would freeze. For now he just had to sit as close as he could and let his feet and hands make the most of what it provided.  
It didn’t help that the metallic manacles were perpetually cold, either.  
He was just starting to get somewhat warmed up – enough to begin paying attention to his surroundings – when he heard footsteps in the corridor. He knew it was too early for Seth to pay a visit, so he assumed they were going to clean out the cell two doors down.   
Until they came all the way to his door.  
“What are you doing here?” he heard the gunman ask as he kept his eye to the bars, hoping to see who it was.  
When there came no reply, Taylor frowned. It took a moment to register before his eyes widened and he quickly turned the heater off before backing away from it. This wasn’t going to be good.  
He heard the gunman standing before fitting the key into the padlock on the door and sliding the two bolts across. Once he had the heavy door open he stood aside so that Jack could come through. Once Jack was inside he closed it again.  
Taylor froze, watching him. His silence had intimidated Taylor even back when he was Seth’s trainee, but now it just plain scared him. He wasn’t sure what to expect.  
It didn’t take long to find out. Jack took the few steps forward it took to close the space between them and landed a downward punch across Taylor’s cheek. Taylor took it without trying to defend himself, feeling like he well and truly deserved it. Jack hadn’t deserved what he’d done to him in the studio – he was just doing as he’d been ordered.  
Jack lay a few more punches on him, each one seeming to have more anger behind it, before Taylor finally had to cover his face in an effort to make him stop. During a hesitation Taylor spat to the side before Jack grabbed the short chain between his wrists and collar to pull him up to his knees.  
“Jack I’m sorry,” Taylor managed to croak out before he was hit across the jaw.  
He landed on his side on the floor, dazed enough to not be able to pull himself up straight away. The sting on his left cheek from Jack’s right hook was beginning to make his eyes tear as Jack landed some well-aimed kicks to his stomach.   
When Jack finally backed off a little Taylor succumbed to a coughing fit, and his brow furrowed worriedly when he realised he was starting to spit blood.  
“Jack, please!” he coughed out when he saw he was readying himself again, “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry. I swear I didn’t want to hurt you.”  
He took another kick to the gut with a yelp before he started trying to crawl away. Jack shadowed him in his usual determined silence, before stepping over him and leaning down to grab the back of the collar. Taylor struggled to pull the weight off the front of his throat but he was choking.  
“Jack!” he managed to gasp out, his legs struggling at the end of the chain’s reach, “don’t!”  
Jack waited until he was satisfied before he let him fall forward. Taylor took a moment to catch his breath before falling onto his side and holding his neck.  
“I don’t care if you don’t believe it,” he struggled to get out, not bothering to look up and see the anger in Jack’s eyes, “but I am. And I’m sorry for what they did to you. That’s my fault too.”  
He started coughing again, not even registering Jack’s pause at his last statement.


	30. 30

Taylor flinched as Jack suddenly knelt down in front of him. It was only then that he saw the confused look on his face.  
Watching as Jack made a sign with his hands, Taylor simply coughed again and shook his head.  
“I’m sorry,” his voice set into a rasp, “I don’t know what you’re… I can’t read signs.”  
Jack looked disgruntled. He reached over to push Taylor’s shoulder back, and with another cough he relented and ended up laying on his back. The next time he looked up at Jack he saw him clearly mouth the word ‘why?’ with a frown.  
“Why is it my fault?” Taylor tried to confirm.  
Jack nodded. Taylor grimaced, wondering if he’d be inviting yet another beating by explaining himself.  
“Because I should have stopped them,” he said softly, “I should have stopped them before you were even taken.”  
He flinched as Jack touched his shoulder, gaining his attention again. This time he was asking ‘how?’  
“I don’t know,” Taylor shook his head, turning away to look at the ceiling, “but I should have been able to figure it out. _We_ should have. So many people were taken after us and it shouldn’t have happened. We should have tracked Seth down through Krüger…”  
He paused as he couldn’t stop his voice breaking.  
“…And we should have done something about it then and there. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through because of that. Because we just… didn’t.”  
He gulped and covered his eyes with his hands as he tried to compose himself, having to bring his knees up just so that the chains would reach. Deciding he didn’t trust Jack enough to leave his eyes covered for long, he soon took them down to his mouth instead.  
“God, I can’t imagine going from hellhole to hellhole as long as you have,” his eyes darted across the ceiling.  
They shot to Jack when he saw him move, but all he did was take a seat on the floor beside him. Pulling his hands down to sit on his chest – the collar keeping them from touching his wounded abdomen – he kept his eye on him as he built up the courage to ask the next question.  
“Can you show me?” he asked tentatively, “can you show me what I did?”  
Jack looked confused for a moment before he realised what he was talking about. Reaching over with his right hand, he carefully rolled up the left sleeve of the familiar black shirt and pulled it back over his shoulder. Taylor gulped again when he saw the angry scar covering most of his collarbone.  
He only managed to pull his eyes away when Jack pulled the shirt down again.  
“I hate myself for doing that,” he shook his head, “for all of it.”  
He jumped when Jack suddenly touched him on the arm again, and stubbornly wiped his eyes before he looked across to him.  
Jack indicated Taylor’s newest wounds before tapping himself on the shoulder. He then shook his head and slid his hand around his throat. Taylor frowned as he had trouble trying to put together what he was trying to say, and Jack only repeated it.  
“This was only for shooting you?” he finally guessed, making Jack nod.  
Taylor took a deep breath as he turned back to the ceiling.  
“Then we’re not even by a long shot,” he insisted as his eyes teared up again.  
He jumped as Jack moved again, and watched as he stepped around him toward the heater. Keeping his eye on him in case he decided to hit him with it, he was surprised when he simply turned it on.


	31. 31

“Finally,” Seth sighed as the van rumbled through a set of tall gates.  
Isaac had completely lost track of where they were, not that he’d known to begin with. All he knew was that they’d have to be a very long way away from New York by now.   
Having kept Seth’s watch in his sights, he knew it was around midday the day after the call to Zac.  
As the van passed by close to a brick building, Isaac realised they were driving into a sort of open courtyard. He didn’t see anything other than brick walls until the van came to a slow halt and the back doors flew open. Seth was the first out of his seat, and the last to make it outside. Once in the fresh air he took an appreciative deep breath.   
“Finally,” he rubbed his head, “right. Let’s get to work then.”  
“Seth,” a bearded man approached with a clipboard, eyeing Isaac curiously.  
“Hudson, 356,” Seth indicated between them, “a delayed induction but I assume you won’t have any troubles.”  
“Of course,” Hudson now looked Isaac up and down as one of the guards held him by the binder, “you do realise they’re getting older, don’t you?”  
“Oh shut up,” Seth scorned, hardly in the mood after the cramped drive, “you know very well it’s the principle of the matter.”  
He indicated to the guard.  
“Get him inside. Tell him where you want him,” he rubbed his eyes before walking to the other side of the courtyard.  
“Right,” Hudson’s eyebrows rose as he turned to the guard, “follow me, if you will.”  
The guard gave Isaac a shove, and they followed Hudson toward a side door. They entered a corridor which seemed to run the length of the courtyard, completely lined with what were obviously cell doors.   
Hudson stopped at one about halfway down and opened the door with one hand.  
“Your cell,” Isaac was surprised to find him addressing him directly, “temperature controlled, all amenities accounted for. You’ll be fed twice a day, and considering your… status, training will begin in the morning.”  
Isaac glanced over his shoulder as the guard began undoing the buckles on the binder.   
“Just to satisfy a personal curiosity…” Hudson began in a cautious tone, “you are one of Zac’s brothers, aren’t you?”  
Isaac had to wait until the binder was slid off before he could pull the gag down.  
“I am. Why do you ask?” he frowned.  
“No reason,” Hudson assured, indicating for him to enter the cell.  
Isaac hesitated as he forced himself to accept that as an answer, before taking one last glance back down the corridor and stepping inside.   
The cell was small, and barely wide enough to contain the bed, a toilet and a basin. A fluorescent light ran down the ceiling, but he couldn’t see a light switch anywhere.  
Rubbing his aching shoulders he turned back in time to see the door close. He heard heavy bolts being driven into place before seeing Hudson’s face one last time through the small window. The door was very reminiscent of the ones at Chadron, which made Isaac think this had to be another base belonging to Seth.  
When Hudson disappeared he took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked up to an air vent in the ceiling. The cells were certainly more accommodating than those at Chadron.


	32. 32

Isaac awoke with a start sometime later when he heard someone at the door. He hadn’t even registered falling asleep, he’d been so tired from the journey to the base. He hadn’t dared fall asleep in Seth’s presence but the cell at least provided some welcome seclusion.  
He didn’t know what was going on outside, but it was also eerily quiet. So the sound of the slat in his door opening had been rather loud.  
A small window had appeared just below the glass one, and a sort of shelf had dropped down leaving a gap of about six inches. A man on the other side of the door he didn’t recognise set a black plastic bowl on the shelf before looking through the window and moving on.  
Isaac hesitated before sitting up on the bed. From where he was he could almost reach it, so he could already see that it was a bowl of baked beans with two slices of bread. Rolling up the sleeves of his white suit shirt first – absently wondering what had happened to his jacket when it had been taken from him – he stood and made his way over to grab it. Upon closer inspection the bread was near stale and the beans were barely warm. But at least they weren’t freezing cold.  
He took it back to the bed to eat, happy just to have something going into his stomach. It had been about a day and a half since he’d had the Starbucks coffee.  
He looked toward the door again as he heard another slat opening, possibly two or three doors down. Curiosity getting the better of him, he set the bowl on the bed and went back to the door. Trying to see what he could through the gap, he could just make out a window to the courtyard which proved that it was night time already. But he couldn’t see either way down the corridor as hard as he tried.  
He heard a third slat opening as he returned to the bed to continue eating. When he finished he returned the bowl to the shelf and went to the basin to wash his hands. Before he’d finished the bowl had gone and the slat closed.  
With a sigh he returned to the bed. It was hard to be bored when he had a good idea of what was going to happen the next day, and yet he could feel it creeping up. Considering he’d managed to sleep all afternoon he knew he was going to be up for most of the night.

*

“Hey,” Zac looked up as Devon returned to the interview room, “did you get something to eat?”  
“Eaten. Slept. Good to go another all-nighter,” Devon looked somewhat disgruntled.  
He gave Jenkins a pointed look. Jenkins frowned from behind the laptop, before catching on and getting up to leave the room. Zac watched curiously as Devon closed the door behind him.  
“Something up?” his eyebrows rose.  
“You could say that,” Devon came to take the seat next to Zac’s.  
He waited a moment before adding anything, making Zac slightly unnerved.  
“I’ve been trying to work out this whole baiting idea,” he admitted.  
“Baiting?” Zac frowned, before putting two and two together, “you don’t want me to just give myself up. You want me to go in as an agent?”  
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” Devon considered, “but if we’re doing this, we’re doing it smart. Seth can’t get suspicious. I don’t doubt he’ll kill everyone if he senses something out of place.”  
“What about Fowler?” Zac pointed out, “he’s not going to want to cross him.”  
“Maybe just everyone except you then,” Devon shrugged.  
“So what are you suggesting?” Zac’s eyes narrowed, “how could this possibly work?”  
“For a start, we could tag you,” Devon suggested, “the same way Seth tagged Taylor.”


	33. 33

“Are you kidding me?” Zac shook his head, “like that’s not going to be obvious. And who’s to say that the first thing they’re going to do isn’t to check me for bugs? We know they’re going to be suspicious straight off the bat purely because it’s consensual.”  
“Well we’re less likely to lose you,” Devon pointed out, “but our tags are certainly less… visual, should I say.”  
“You guys do this often?” Zac looked worried.  
“More than you might think,” Devon wrung his hands a little, not sure he should be admitting it, “and if we get lucky and it isn’t detected – I don’t see him doing anything other than removing it if he finds it – we can swoop in and pull you out after a designated time frame.”  
“Or after you guys find my brothers,” Zac corrected, “because that’s the whole reason this is happening. If you dare pull me out before they’re safe? _I’ll_ have your hide.”  
“I don’t doubt it,” Devon agreed, “but there will come a point where we have to make the choice on whether leaving you where you are six months down the track is really the best thing.”  
Zac hesitated, and Devon could tell he hadn’t really thought about the possible duration of his time in Alaska. The last time he’d been there it had only been for about a week, but both Taylor and Isaac had been on the case practically from day one. This time the army would have to find his brothers first.  
“I don’t know,” Zac rubbed his face tiredly, “if there’s even a remote possibility that Seth could know what he’s looking for, is potentially aggravating him really the best idea?”  
Devon rolled his eyes and was about to object when Taylor’s phone (which Zac still had possession of) suddenly rang. Zac locked eyes with him as he pulled it from his pocket, before confirming that it was a number he didn’t know. Devon jumped up from his seat and banged on the door to coax Jenkins back in before heading for the laptop as Zac answered the call.  
“Yeah?”  
“A rather informal greeting there, Zachary.”  
Zac nodded the confirmation to Devon who immediately began the trace effort. Jenkins stood outside the door to radio it in before coming in to help.  
“What do you want me to do?” Zac kept his eye on the laptop screen, making sure it was also being recorded.  
“I’m organising a charter flight for you,” Seth revealed, “you’ll need to get yourself to the International airport first thing tomorrow morning. Say around seven. Of course you’ll have to persuade the army to stay home.”  
“And what if I can’t?” Zac looked between Devon and Jenkins, “you’d know better than anyone they won’t give up easily.”  
“Well you’ll just have to work your magic, won’t you?” he could hear the scorn in Seth’s voice, “taking into account my insurance policy I doubt you’ll have to much trouble being persuasive.”  
“And speaking of,” Zac cut in, “what assurances do I get that they’re still alive?”  
There was a pause on the other end, and Zac panicked for a split moment.  
“Proof of life will be provided shortly,” Seth assured, “I’ll send you some videos. Will that make you happy?”  
“Only if I dictate what’s in them,” Zac had already decided to play the game.  
There was a huff on the line as Devon gave Zac a subtle thumbs up.  
“Fine,” Seth relented, “tell me what you want and I’ll see what I can do.”


	34. 34

Isaac’s eyes opened as he heard footsteps in the corridor. The lights had gone out long ago and his only source was now the opposite courtyard window filtering through the small glass panel in the door.  
When his cell light suddenly came on he knew it was his door about to be opened, and he sat up on the bed curiously. He could just see the top of a guard’s head as the bolts were undone, and once the door was opened he blanched when he saw Seth step inside.  
He was holding a cell phone and looking disgruntled as he tried to work the camera on it.  
“What’s going on?” Isaac felt they should at least let that question slide.  
“Your brother wants proof of life. Which we of course knew would happen,” Seth grunted before turning to the guard, “can you work this damn thing?”  
The guard took one look at the phone and shook his head.  
“Sorry. Those smart phones really aren’t my thing. I only use a phone to call and text.”  
“May I?” Isaac offered, holding a hand out.  
Seth looked taken aback for a moment, but decided to humour him.  
“Set it to record video,” he instructed as Isaac took the phone.  
Isaac easily found the camera and set it to video mode before handing it back.  
“Just press the red button to start and stop when you’re ready,” he told him.  
“Right…” Seth held the phone so that Isaac could clearly be seen on the screen, “Zac wants you to give each of your children’s full names in reverse order of age. And… go.”  
He saw Seth press the button as he registered what he was asking. Knowing he wouldn’t get away with saying anything other than what was asked, he sighed and complied.  
“James Monroe, and Clarke Everett,” he said clearly, keeping his eyes to Seth.  
“Just the two?” Seth confirmed.  
Isaac nodded almost sullenly before Seth pressed the button again.  
“Done,” he turned to hand the phone to the guard, “get this to Henry and get him to forward the video to the number I called earlier.”  
The guard took it and stepped outside. Seth gave Isaac one last look, eyes taking note at where his hands sat in his lap, before turning to leave himself.  
“Always a pleasure, Isaac,” he said over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him.  
Isaac simply raised an eyebrow as he heard the bolts close and the two walk away.

*

“Here!” Zac called as Taylor’s phone received the message, “can you get that on screen?”  
“Easy,” Jenkins confirmed, looking between the screen and the laptop as he set it up.  
Devon stood with his arms folded as the video file came up. Taking a moment to check that they were ready, Jenkins hit play.  
The three watched the video like hawks, trying to notice anything possibly out of place. The main thing Zac got out of it was that Isaac actually had a bed.  
Once it finished Devon nodded.  
“Send a copy of that through to Dekker and Andrews,” he instructed Jenkins who nodded in turn.  
“One down one to go,” Zac couldn’t hide his worry.  
“If he wants you to get on that plane tomorrow he’ll come through,” Devon assured, giving him a glance before pulling out his radio, “this is Devon calling Dekker. POL on Isaac coming your way.”  
A crackle came through in confirmation a moment later.


	35. 35

Taylor was startled awake when he heard something hit the door. He immediately heard voices outside belonging to both Jerry and the gunman, and gulped worriedly when he heard the door start to unlock.  
He tentatively reached over to turn off the heater he’d been curled up in front of before retreating back to the corner the chains were anchored in. He made it there before the door opened.  
“Let’s get this over with,” Jerry grunted as he walked in, a gun once again slung lazily from his shoulder.  
Taylor kept his eye on it worriedly as Jerry stopped in front of him and began messing with a cell phone. The guard flanked him, waiting patiently as he worked it out.  
“It’s too dark,” Jerry said suddenly as he held it up, “got a flashlight anywhere?”  
“You’re lucky,” the gunman said gruffly, pulling a small one from one of the many pockets of his army pants.  
He clicked it on and shone it in Taylor’s face, making him flinch and squint.   
“Better?” he asked, getting a grunt of confirmation from Jerry.  
“Say your kids’ full names in order from youngest to oldest,” Jerry suddenly ordered.  
“What? Why?” Taylor was confused, “what do they have to do with anything?”  
“Just do it,” Jerry scorned, “before we make you do it.”  
Taylor gulped a little at that before holding his left hand up to shield his eyes from the light a little.  
“Wilhelmina Jane,” he began cautiously, “Viggo Moriah, River Samuel, Penelope Anne, and Jordan Ezra.”  
“That it?” Jerry demanded.  
Taylor just nodded and the light finally clicked off. He dropped his hand as his eyes adjusted in time to see Jerry playing with the phone again.  
“Is that all you need?” the gunman asked, looking between the two of them.  
“That’s it. No reception down here so I need to go upstairs to send it,” Jerry replied, turning to leave.  
Taylor watched after them as the gunman turned to leave as well, suddenly clicking as to what had just happened. It had been a proof of life video.  
He grimaced as he leant his head back against the wall in time for the door to close and be locked behind the two captors again. He decided he was warm enough to not need the heater again for a while, which made him wonder if it was daylight outside or if it had just been on long enough to warm the small space proportionately.   
He still wished he could reach his jacket and shoes though.

*

“Incoming!” Zac announced as the second message came through, “it’s a different number but it’s another video.”  
“I knew they weren’t together,” Devon muttered as he stood again to wait for Jenkins to put the video on screen.  
As soon as it came up both Zac and Devon cringed. Taylor was already sporting an obvious black eye and split lip, and that was only what they could see. He also looked a lot dirtier, although this video was clearer than the execution one.  
“He’s chained,” Zac gulped slightly when Taylor put his hand up to shield his eyes.  
“Seth’s not taking any chances,” Devon’s eyes darted across the screen.  
“I don’t blame him,” Zac admitted, “I wouldn’t trust us either.”


	36. 36

Dekker’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the recording of Seth’s latest phone call. When it ended he looked over at Zac.  
“Nothing other than ‘charter flight at the International airport’?” his eyebrows rose.  
“I heard what you did,” Zac frowned, “what, you think I’m psychic?”  
“Just double checking you didn’t pick up on anything we might not have,” Dekker looked back to the screen.  
“Saying you don’t trust me, Dekker?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
“Just covering all bases. So I take it we’ll be expecting another call before morning then,” Dekker brushed over.  
“Maybe, maybe not,” Devon shrugged, “he could wait until seven and just have someone at the airport nab him.”  
Zac grit his teeth as he just now began to realise what he’d gotten himself into.  
“So saying they do. What’s the first thing they’re going to do?” Dekker looked between them as Jenkins just sat at the laptop looking awkward.  
“Drag me to the charter flight and get it off the ground as soon as possible,” Zac folded his arms.  
“And how will they restrain you?” Dekker considered, “think they’ll go the binders like they did for your brothers?”  
“Why?” Zac frowned, “what does it matter?”  
“Do you think you’ll be collared?” Devon suddenly caught on.  
“I was collared with Fowler before,” Zac shrugged, “it’s how they led me around. Again… why?”  
“If you’re going into wearing a fulltime collar, your neck will be the best place to tag you,” Dekker told him straight, “once it goes on they won’t be looking under it again.”  
Zac immediately rubbed his neck, not at all looking forward to the prospect.  
“I don’t know about that,” he looked as awkward as he felt, “when I was with Krüger, he changed it whenever I had a shower. Because of the leather or something.”  
“And when you were with Seth?” Devon asked.  
“No…” Zac admitted.  
“Or the week you spent with Fowler?” Dekker added.  
“No,” Zac sighed, “fine. But is it gonna hurt?”  
“We’ll do our best, but probably,” Devon smirked, “don’t worry. It’s a lot smaller than Seth’s for a start. It’ll barely leave a scar.”  
Zac definitely looked as if he didn’t believe them for a second.  
“So how do we do it?” he asked.  
Devon and Dekker locked eyes, and Dekker gave him a nod.  
“Follow me,” Devon nodded over his shoulder before leading him from the room.  
Zac followed him out and down a maze of corridors to practically the opposite side of the building, which housed a small infirmary. When they entered the on duty doctor looked at Devon curiously.  
“This is Zac,” he thumbed over his shoulder, “do you have what we talked about?”  
Zac looked between them, feeling very much like a fish in a glass bowl all of a sudden.   
“I do,” the doctor confirmed, moving over to a small glass refrigerator.  
Zac watched as he opened the door and selected a large syringe from a vertically placed set.  
“Really?” he looked to Devon, automatically taking a step back.  
“Take a seat,” the doctor patted a dentist-like chair, “this won’t take a moment.”


	37. 37

The pain in the back of Zac’s neck made it hard to sleep that night, but it by far wasn’t the only reason. By the time the implant had been placed it had been nearing on midnight, and considering they had to be at the airport by 7am it had been suggested to head to bed straight away.  
Most of the next few hours were spent trying to pacify Kate. When she’d finally fallen asleep, it had taken another good hour or so for him to follow suit.  
They were woken by a wakeup call sometime before 6am so that Zac could say his goodbyes. When he finally pulled himself away from the family, he met up with Devon in the cafeteria for a quick breakfast before heading back to the interview room for a debriefing.  
Once Dekker was satisfied that everyone knew their part and Andrews had been notified of the meeting’s contents, the group disbanded and Zac was left with Dekker, Devon and a Specialist in plain clothes – Watkins. The four headed outside to an armoured vehicle and a designated driver took them to the airport right on schedule.  
In the back, Zac was absently twisting Taylor’s recently charged phone in his hands.  
“You okay?” Devon asked after a time.  
“No,” Zac admitted, “but name someone who would be and I swear I’ll let them take my place.”  
Devon smirked and Zac gave him an amused glance.  
“Sorry.”  
“No need,” Devon assured, “you know what you’re getting into better than anyone.”  
Zac nodded, continuing to play with the phone.  
“Guess I do,” he sighed, “when he said to tell you guys to stay home, think he meant the Pentagon?”  
“You had to get to the airport somehow,” Dekker pointed out, “surely he’d relent a little.”  
“I don’t know. It’s Seth,” Zac shrugged.  
“Guess we’ll soon find out either way,” Devon attempted to curb the topic, “and if Seth’s around? We’ll have a few surprises for him.”  
“If it’s a charter flight, who’s to say anyone will be there at all?” Zac frowned.  
They arrived at the airport around ten minutes later. Pulling into a service entrance with their military clearance, the vehicle had barely pulled to a halt before Taylor’s phone rang.  
Zac immediately answered it, putting it on speaker.  
“I see you got my memos.”  
“What assurances do I have that they’re still alive this morning?” Zac demanded.  
“You have my word, and that will have to do,” Seth insisted, “there’s no time to waste; you have a flight to catch. So ditch your little friends and make your way into the terminal.”  
“What if your word isn’t good enough?” Zac’s eyes narrowed.  
“Don’t get snarky,” Seth’s tone lowered, “rest assured that while your bones are not here to break, there are still four hundred and twelve of your brothers’ less geographically challenged.”  
Zac looked to Devon at that, who just gave him a knowing look. As the Specialist opened the back door of the truck Dekker quickly jumped down while keeping his rifle at the ready. A quick scope of their surroundings proved they were sufficiently isolated.  
“What do I do?” Zac gulped slightly.  
“Like I said, ditch your friends. Then we’ll talk.”  
Zac looked to Devon again who nodded. He led Zac out – who kept the call connected – and quietly directed him toward a terminal side entrance. With one last reassuring look from the three, Zac cautiously walked over to it and disappeared through the door.


	38. 38

“I’m alone. Now what?” Zac took the phone off speaker and put it to his ear.  
“Keep walking,” Seth instructed, “take the second door on the right and follow that through until you reach a set of windows.”  
“How do you know where I am?” Zac frowned.  
“My eyes aren’t the only ones I have,” was Seth’s cryptic reply, “don’t take too long, we’re on a schedule.”  
Zac took a quick look around to see if anyone was watching him. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he headed for the door and made his way through.  
When he came to the windows he looked either way.  
“To your left there’s a door with a key code lock,” Seth’s voice came again, “enter the code five, three, seven, nine… and go through it.”  
Zac did as instructed and made his way through. He lost sight of the army vehicle through the windows as the door closed behind him.  
“Take the corridor to your right, it will lead you through to the opposite tarmac,” Seth continued, “you’ll find a small aircraft awaiting your arrival. Tell the man at the stairs who you are and you’ll be welcomed accordingly.”  
“You’re not here, are you?” Zac felt the need to confirm, knowing the army would be recording the call.  
“Of course not. I have much more important things to tend to today.”  
Zac rolled his eyes as he headed down the hall and through the last door. The plane was situated around a corner and half the length of the terminal from where he’d been dropped off, and as Seth had mentioned there was a man waiting by the staircase.  
He cringed a little as a plane took off close by.  
“I take it you’ve found the aircraft,” Seth’s voice brought him back to reality.  
“Yes,” Zac confirmed.  
“Relinquish the phone before you board. Safe travels.”  
Zac frowned as Seth suddenly hung up, then looked up to see the man by the stairs watching him expectantly. With an inward groan he slid his hands into his pockets and made his way over.  
“Zac Hanson?” he gave the man a sheepish look.  
The man simply held out his hand. Eyeing it for a moment before he did so, Zac handed over Taylor’s phone. Once he had it the man indicated for Zac to climb the stairs.  
With a last glance over his shoulder to check that the army were staying out of sight, he obliged. At the top of the stairs he was greeted by a flight attendant in an oddly usual fashion, before turning into a mostly empty cabin. The two men keeping it from being completely empty were guards Zac recognised all too well.  
“Take a seat,” one of them indicated the seat he was standing beside.  
Zac looked back over his shoulder as the door was closed and sealed. Taking a moment to gather himself, he once again complied. By the time he hit the seat the plane’s engines had been started.  
“So can I ask where we’re going?” he looked between the two men standing over him.  
“This will be a quiet flight,” the one who hadn’t spoken earlier pulled a gun from his belt and casually set it against his thigh.  
Zac eyed it before running his fingers through his hair nervously.  
It was certainly going to be a tense one.


	39. 39

Isaac took a deep breath as he heard the door unbolting. Breakfast had been about a half hour earlier, so he knew what this would be about.  
As the door opened it revealed Hudson, flanked by two guards.  
“Good morning,” he greeted formally, “kindly leave your cell and follow me.”  
He disappeared. Isaac raised an eyebrow at the odd interaction but stood from the bed nonetheless. It wouldn’t pay to get off to a bad start, especially not knowing what was going on with either Zac or Taylor.  
The guards looked ready to manhandle him if need be, but taking note that he wasn’t resisting they simply fell back behind him as he began to follow Hudson back toward the courtyard.  
They crossed the courtyard – the sky looked like it was ready to rain, which confirmed to Isaac that he was nowhere near Washington or New York – and entered a door on the other side. The van he’d arrived in was still parked there along with two others, and the large wire gates were chained shut.  
One of the guards closed the door behind them as they continued through a corridor almost mirroring the one with cells, only with no doors on this side. Instead it opened into another hallway halfway down, and there were a few doors either side of this one.   
Hudson stopped to unlock one on the left with a set of keys hanging from a retractable wire on his belt. As he disappeared inside for a moment, Isaac looked back to check with the guards if he was supposed to follow. They didn’t move.  
Hudson returned a moment later holding two leather wrist cuffs and swiftly locked the door again.  
“Come,” he offered Isaac a smile when he was done, crossing over the corridor to the doors on the right.  
He opened the second one down and indicated for Isaac to enter before addressing the guards.  
“One of you inside to start, one of you outside. Thank you.”  
Isaac took a quick look around as he waited for the two to follow him inside. The room was mostly bare, with a steel bench running the length of the left wall and a clock just out of reach on the right. Similar to the rest of the building there didn’t even seem to be a speck of dust on the floor. There was however a black briefcase sitting on the bench with what looked like a modified walking stick beside it.  
The guard who came in closed the door behind them and took up post beside it. Hudson made his way to the briefcase, setting the cuffs onto the bench before opening it. Isaac couldn’t make out what was inside but he certainly heard many metallic clinks suggesting it was a sort of tool chest.  
“Our introductory session will purely define just how much training you may have received in the past,” Hudson gave him a glance as he looked through, “I understand you spent some time with Derek Krüger.”  
“I did,” Isaac nodded, awkwardly clasping his hands together.  
“Good. Then you’ll understand the basics already. Please kneel in the centre of the floor.”  
Isaac gave the guard another glance before stepping over to what he made out as the centre and kneeling as asked. Hudson continued fussing before collecting the cuffs and walking over to him.  
“Give me your hands,” he instructed.  
Isaac held them out, letting Hudson secure the cuffs. Once on he returned to the bench to collect the rod.  
“Now lie on your stomach,” he instructed, tapping the rod against the bench and igniting the electric pins.


	40. 40

Isaac did as he was asked, lowering himself down with his hands and keeping them spread when he hit the floor. The sight of the cattle prod had him nervous but so far he wasn’t showing it.  
“It’s my understanding that you had no Master, am I correct?” Hudson began toward him.  
Isaac could hear the small zaps as he tested the instrument.  
“Correct,” Isaac replied, “unless you count Krüger.”  
“For continuity purposes, we won’t,” Hudson said decidedly.  
He paused barely two feet away.  
“Out of curiosity… how old are you?” Isaac could hear the frown in his voice.  
“Thirty-four,” he replied, already having trouble talking while laying on his stomach.  
“I see,” was Hudson’s reply.  
Isaac frowned at that. He could tell he wasn’t happy.  
“Is that a problem?” he felt the need to ask.  
“That depends entirely on you,” Hudson began to walk down toward his feet making Isaac turn his head, “it doesn’t seem to be a problem for prospective buyers at all.”  
Isaac wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He supposed he should be glad. He’d heard Taylor and Zac’s horror stories from what had happened in Texas with those that were unwanted.  
“According to what little data your file provides, you haven’t gone through all the required health checks just yet,” Hudson continued as he walked around to the other side, “are there any medical issues we should be aware of?”  
Isaac hesitated as he thought, wondering why he had to be flat on the floor for this.  
“Maybe,” he replied, his eyes catching Hudson’s shoes as he moved up to his hips, “I did have surgery to remove part of a rib some time ago.”  
“How long? And why?” Hudson tapped the prod on the floor.  
“I think it was… 2007?” Isaac tried to remember, “the bone was pressing on tissue and creating blood clots which went to my heart.”  
“Are you on medication?”  
“I was, but not anymore,” Isaac turned his head again.  
“I see.”  
Hudson stopped with his foot close to Isaac’s right arm.  
“Any outstanding repercussions? Anything that would inhibit you from undertaking physical labour?”  
“Not that I’m aware of,” Isaac answered honestly, “but I’ve never really tried either.”  
“Then we’ll have to focus on some strength building,” Hudson seemed to muse to himself as he stepped around in front of him, “among other physical work. Kneel.”  
Isaac held back a sigh of relief as he pulled himself up to his knees and sat back onto his legs. It was already a lot easier to breathe.  
“You appear to be conforming above standard. Why?” Hudson frowned.  
“Because I know what’ll happen if I don’t,” Isaac returned the look, “and I know Seth has one, if not both of my brothers on hand as extra incentive.”  
“I see,” Hudson still looked curious, “still, we will have to cement the premise that while your obedience is currently consensual… that it will follow through if circumstances change. The only way we can be sure of this is through a very strict regime of discipline for an extended period of time.”  
Isaac closed his eyes for a moment, wondering just how bad it was going to get.


	41. 41

Zac kept his eye on the two guards for the entire flight, and at least one of them reciprocated. They were the same two who had sprung him from the FBI holding cell earlier in the year. The same two that had shot Haddon.  
As the plane began its descent one looked to the other.  
“Time to break out the leather?” he suggested.  
The other gave a non-committal groan, but stood from his seat. Zac planted his eyes on him as he stepped up to an overhead compartment and pulled down a black carry case. As he opened it the other guard made his way over to help and Zac eyed the flight attendant wearily. He suddenly didn’t look comfortable either.  
As they returned to Zac’s side he saw the collar and cuffs they were carrying, and had to remind himself that he’d been waiting for this.  
“Lean forward,” the taller one instructed.  
Zac leant on the arm rests as he pushed himself forward, letting him secure the collar around his neck. Once it was done – Zac holding back a sigh of relief that they hadn’t bothered moving his hair from his neck and therefore hadn’t seen the mark from the needle – he sat back before they each took a wrist and rolled up his sleeves to secure a cuff.  
“We need to prepare for landing,” the attendant suddenly announced, as if he were trying to distract them but obviously far too late.  
“Better put your seatbelt on,” the shorter guard smirked to Zac.  
Zac glared at him but did as suggested. The guards took their seats again without bothering to do it themselves, and the flight attendant soon followed suit.   
It wasn’t long before the plane landed and came to a halt on the tarmac. The guards were up before it stopped moving and began to pack up the bags they had with them.   
Once it did stop, the flight attendant worked to open the door as Zac simply undid his seatbelt and waited for further orders. As soon as the door opened a waft of chilly air filled the cabin making the guards cringe. Zac took that as confirmation that he was already back in Alaska and zipped up the hoodie he’d managed to retain so far.  
“Let’s go. I want to get out of this hellhole as fast as possible,” one of the guards grumbled, slinging a backpack over his shoulder before heading for the door.  
Zac looked to the second who indicated for him to follow. He stood and did so, surprised to see a staircase at the door so fast. As he hit the cold air outside he folded his arms across his chest and had a quick look around from the tall vantage point. They appeared to have landed on a deserted highway with a nearby shed, by which sat an early model Hummer with a bull bar. Zac gulped a little as he realised he recognised the vehicle. It belonged to Fowler – or at least one of his men, he wasn’t sure which.  
As he descended the stairs he heard the second guard come out behind him, and he saw another man appear from under the plane. Obviously the person who’d had the staircase on hand. He recognised him as a man named Victor, who must have been the driver of the Hummer.  
“Easy flight?” he asked the first guard as he hit the ground.  
“Yeah,” he simply grumbled as he handed over the backpack, “I trust you can take it from here?”  
“Once he’s secure,” Victor gave Zac an odd look, as if wondering why he wasn’t already.  
As Zac’s feet hit the ground the guard began to pull him over to the Hummer. Victor along with the second guard followed close by.


	42. 42

Before the back door even opened Zac had the cuffs locked together behind his back. He watched as Victor moved some stuff around in the back where chains could be clearly heard before the taller guard took back the backpack and opened it. When he revealed some dark cloth Zac caught on to what was happening and took a moment to pull himself together in preparation.  
He took one last look at the Alaskan sunset before he was blindfolded and gagged with it, and a moment later he felt the hood go on.  
At least his face would be warm, he guessed.  
He was helped up into the back of the Hummer before feeling a shackle go around his left ankle to keep him in. Once that was done he heard something hit the seat beside him before the door was closed.  
Outside he heard the guards talking to Victor again before bidding farewell and a snide good luck. The driver’s door soon opened as Victor got in, and as soon as he started it up he turned the heater on.  
The drive was a long one, much longer than Zac had expected. By the time the Hummer finally pulled up he was sure he’d started sweating under the hood. Another blast of chilly air hit him as Victor opened his door, and he heard his footprints crunching snow as he made his way around to open Zac’s.  
Before the shackle on his ankle was unlocked he felt Victor move the hood so he could attach a leash to the collar. Then once his foot was free he felt the pull telling him to get out.  
Walking precariously because he couldn’t see, Zac followed as fast as he felt able. He heard a wooden door opening before the lack of wind hitting the hood told him he was inside, and it was only a couple of yards after that when Victor ordered him to his knees.  
He fell obediently and set to waiting as he heard the chain drop and Victor return to close the door behind them. When there was an awkward moment of silence that made Zac wonder if Victor had actually gone outside and left him behind, he clenched his fists.  
Footsteps from somewhere up ahead and some distinctive heavy breathing signalled that Fowler had entered the room. Zac twisted his fists against the cuffs as he felt himself immediately regressing back to the submissive feeling he’d had the first time they’d met.  
Without a word, Fowler approached him and pulled the hood from his head. With a grunt he stepped back.  
“Just wanted to be sure. They took so long I wasn’t sure I could trust them to send the same one.”  
Zac frowned behind the blindfold. His voice was raspier than he remembered. He almost sounded half dead.  
“I want him back in the field first thing in the morning.”  
“Really?” Zac heard Victor’s voice behind him, “shouldn’t we… you know, wait a few days? He didn’t get any training this time, and you know what happened when-“  
“I said first thing in the morning,” Fowler lay down the law, “Nigel will just have to deal with it.”  
Zac visibly flinched at the revelation that Nigel was back. He’d always just assumed the army still had him in custody somewhere. At the movement he heard Victor smirk.  
“Don’t worry. Nigel will behave himself,” Fowler assured, “or he’ll have me to answer too.”  
Zac took a moment to realise that Fowler was addressing him directly. He’d never done it before.  
“Should I keep an eye on them?” Victor sounded like he didn’t really want to offer.  
“It might be an idea, thank you,” Fowler returned, “just until they’re settled in.”


	43. 43

Taylor jumped as he heard the door unlocking. He’d been muttering a prayer to himself and hadn’t heard the footsteps approaching.  
The door barely opened a crack before something was thrown in. When Taylor realised what it was his eyes widened and he pulled himself forward as the door closed again. He heard the locks fall into place as he picked up the bread roll and quickly brushed off the dirt before taking a bite.  
He only remembered being so glad to see bread once before in his life. That was in the hole when he’d had to help Zac get food.  
After the first bite he retreated back to the corner to continue eating. He hadn’t had the heater on for some time now and was literally shaking from the cold, but he managed to forget for a moment as he concentrated on the bread. He almost felt silly about it, but he was just starving.  
He’d finished it before he realised it was stale. He brushed his hands off on his jeans before folding his arms as far as he could, trying to get back some warmth without resorting to the heater.  
He hadn’t seen or spoken to anyone since Jerry had taken the video presumably a day or so earlier, and he’d managed to sleep a few times since then. But there came a point when he just couldn’t oversleep anymore. It had happened a few times already, and he’d used the time to look around the space he was in. These places weren’t always as they first seemed, and he figured he might eventually either find or work out something that could help him. Or maybe just help prove to someone that he’d once been there.  
The floor, like the corridor, was dirt. There appeared to be a thick level of clay a few inches down which prevented anyone from digging themselves out. The walls were made of large stone bricks which appeared to serve as a solid foundation for the building above. The stone was covered in everything from scratches, dents from blunt instruments, spatters of what Taylor assumed was blood, and holes here and there which at some point had also anchored chains.  
A line of sediment ran in a ring around the room about a foot above the ground, proving that at some point the cell had flooded.   
He’d already tried pulling on the bolt that had the chains anchored to the stone. Either it had somehow been sealed with concrete, or he just simply wasn’t strong enough to get it out. Without access to anything he could use to pick the locks on the shackles he knew he was well and truly stuck.  
He wasn’t sure exactly what he’d do if he managed to get free, but it would certainly be a start.  
Now he appeared to simply be waiting for Seth to turn up. And he wasn’t exactly sure what else Kadie had in mind for him, but he was sure he’d be seeing her again before his time was done.  
Then there was Connor. The variable.  
He’d spent a great deal of time already wondering where Isaac had gone. He’d practically disappeared the moment he’d left the room at the house. Not having been told anything one way or another, he was assuming his brother would be going into training wherever Seth was now based.  
Zac probably would too, if they caught him. Taylor hoped he was smart enough to stay away but knew that with the threat he’d gotten he probably wouldn’t. He wished there’d been some way to warn him that Seth would undoubtedly kill him regardless.  
With a groan he felt his stomach gurgle as the bread finally made its way down. It was the first thing he’d had since he’d been taken. They hadn’t even offered him water yet.  
About half a day earlier he’d heard them finally cleaning out the cell two doors down. But the fact that his own cell smelled foul of rot, mud, sewage and sweat meant it hadn’t made much difference.


	44. 44

Zac stumbled a little as Victor pulled the blindfold off, and blinked as his eyes adjusted to the candlelight in the room.   
The room was similar but not the same as the one he’d stayed in last time. A bed with what could barely be considered a mattress covered with two blankets sat on the floor to the right. A small chest of drawers sat to the left with the candle atop it, and he knew from before that it held clothes for him.  
“I’ll bring some food in soon,” Victor told him as he unlocked the cuffs, “you know the drill.”  
Zac nodded before feeling the cuffs release and reaching up to pull his own gag off.  
“When will I see Fowler again?” he turned to Victor as he pulled it from his neck and wrapped it around his cold hand.  
“I don’t know,” Victor replied as he backed into the doorway.  
“Can I ask to see him?” Zac asked hopefully, “can I even just talk to him?”  
Victor frowned, curiosity getting the better of him.  
“Why?” he paused with his hand on the door.  
“Because I want to know,” Zac returned the frown.  
“Know what?”  
Zac looked across at the candle, trying to work out how to get his point across without aggravating anyone. Not this soon anyway.  
“Why I’m here,” he returned his gaze to Victor, “I want to know why me, specifically.”  
“You can’t take that you’re just the lucky one?” Victor smirked.  
“No I can’t,” Zac’s eyes lowered, “not anymore.”  
Victor hesitated, curious again, but forced himself to shake it off.  
“I’ll be back later,” he announced before closing the door behind him.  
Zac heard the beam moving across to seal him in and turned back into the room defeated.  
He took a seat on the bed and sighed. He was definitely not looking forward to spending the day with Nigel tomorrow. He was sure he wouldn’t exactly be forgiving of Zac for having shot him in the foot.  
He absently ran his hand around the collar, confirming that it was the same kind he’d been wearing last time. The kind with a magnetic lock.   
Keeping his eye on the door he leant forward a little and felt for the heel of his right shoe. Sliding his thumbnail into the wedge, he felt a small ‘click’ as it separated from the shoe and he slid the heel away. Still keeping an eye and his ears to the door he pressed the centre of the heel and felt the magnet pop out into his hand.   
He looked it over for a moment hoping it was big enough, before trying it on the cuff on his right wrist. It took a second to get the right angle, but the cuff eventually came apart.  
Nodding in satisfaction, Zac quickly replaced it before rebuilding the heel of his shoe. Knowing he wouldn’t be keeping them on for the duration of his time there, he began looking through the other shoes they’d provided for him. Mostly snow boots, but some that he could just wear around what he assumed was another large cabin.  
Deciding he didn’t want to take the chance he changed his shoes into some he knew he’d be able to sleep in. Once his own were off, he found somewhere down beside the chest of drawers to stash them where they wouldn’t be as visible.  
As soon as he’d finished doing that he heard Victor returning to the door.


	45. 45

Isaac clenched his teeth as he felt the sweat roll down his face. He hadn’t thought it would be this hard.  
Hudson stood close by with a clipboard thoroughly taking notes.  
“Hudson?” Isaac eventually gasped out, “I can’t keep going.”  
“Just a little while longer,” Hudson insisted.  
Isaac groaned through his teeth as he forced his legs to keep moving on the treadmill. Hudson had set it up so that he couldn’t get off if he wanted to, and he’d already worked out that if he tried to step aside he would lose his balance and fall. His hands cuffed behind him kept him straight and the collar anchored via leash made sure that if he fell he’d choke.  
He felt as if he’d been there for hours. Finally, Hudson carefully reached over and turned it off. Isaac faltered as the treadmill slowed, before falling to his knees the instant it stopped.  
Hudson knelt beside the treadmill and set his clipboard down, using a stethoscope and his watch to check on Isaac’s heart rate.  
“That’s a worry,” was all he said before collecting his clipboard and standing.  
Isaac groaned, wishing the chain was long enough for him to lay down. He chest felt on fire and he just couldn’t seem to catch his breath.  
Once Hudson had finished jotting down his findings, he casually leant over to disconnect the chain from the front of the treadmill. Isaac took a moment to tell himself that he could move again, before shifting himself backward to the floor and falling onto his side as soon as he was far enough away. Hudson watched on as he succumbed to a coughing fit.  
“You’re not quite up to the physical standard one would expect from you,” he said thoughtfully, “thank me for freeing you.”  
“Thank you Hudson,” Isaac managed to cough out, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to control the pain still prevalent in his chest.  
“You’re welcome,” Hudson nodded, stepping aside to place the clipboard on the bench.  
He indicated for the guard in the room to come forward.  
“You’ll be escorted to a facility to wash yourself. Please be meticulous,” he insisted, making Isaac frown in confusion, “you’ll then be taken back to your cell. We’ll start again early tomorrow. Good day.”  
Isaac groaned again as the guard pulled him up by the arm. His legs didn’t want to walk any further, but he forced them to do his bidding.  
The guard led him to just the next door down the corridor which opened into what looked like an emptied locker room without the lockers. Shelves on the right held nothing but clothing, and a row of larger showerheads adorned the far wall.  
When he was dragged to the opposite wall and positioned under one of them, he barely managed to hold himself up while waiting for the guard to unlock the cuffs. Once he had them off Isaac used his right hand to lean against the wall and his left to hold his chest as he finally began to catch his breath.  
He didn’t have it for long before a torrent of freezing water took it away again.  
He heard the guard laughing as he covered his nose and mouth in an effort to keep breathing.  
“Sorry, guess I should have warned you,” came a smirk over the noise.  
The water shut off as suddenly as it started and the guard threw him a cake of soap.  
“Take off your shirt,” he ordered.


	46. 46

After yet another ordeal bordering on half an hour, Isaac was dry and changed and returned to his cell. The guard was just about to close his door when Isaac heard another set of footsteps approaching, and the guard stood back from the door a little to let Seth step in.  
Isaac stood back against the basin, not having had time to sit down yet.  
“Isaac,” Seth nodded as he stood in the doorway, “thought I’d do you the courtesy of telling you I’ll be leaving tomorrow to go and see Taylor.”  
Isaac looked to the guard for a moment, unsure of how to take that.  
“If we’re conversing…” he began cautiously, “would this be your ‘at first opportunity’ you were talking about?”  
Seth took a moment to catch on to what he meant.  
“Unfortunately no,” he couldn’t look more annoyed at the thought if he’d tried, “no, if I denied my brother at least the opportunity to speak to Taylor himself, my neck would be next on the line. I have other business with Taylor for now. No need to worry yourself with his mortality just yet.”  
“Your brother?” Isaac’s eyebrows rose, “you mean Connor?”  
“Well I hardly mean Ryan, now do I?” Seth scorned, making Isaac back off a little further, “yes Connor. We’re anticipating his release within the next two weeks.”  
“You’re breaking him out?” Isaac realised.  
“A rather primitive way to put it, but yes,” Seth admitted.  
“Why would you admit that?” Isaac frowned, confused.  
“What can I say, I’m feeling generous,” Seth shrugged, “and I can’t see who you’d bother passing it onto.”  
Isaac grit his teeth as he looked across at the bed.  
“I spoke to Hudson a moment ago,” Seth changed the subject, “he seems worried about your physical capabilities. That never came up with either of your brothers.”  
“So?” Isaac’s brow furrowed, “my brothers and I are… three different people.”  
He almost said four but held himself back. They’d managed to keep the rest of the family out of this mess so far and he wasn’t going to drag them into it now.  
“Very different, apparently,” Seth slid his hands into his pockets as he watched Isaac squirm with interest, “but while certain aspects of your personalities intertwine extensively, physically it seems to be a different ball game altogether. In fact the three of you seem so physically varied I just have to ask… were at least one of you adopted?”  
“What?” it was Isaac’s turn to look scornful, “of course not!”  
“My money would be on Zac,” Seth continued, “while the two of you do share eye and hair colour whereas Taylor doesn’t, Zac does seem physically superior to the both of you.”  
Isaac groaned again and finally turned to sit on the bed.  
“On the other hand if Zac’s physicality is all through training which you haven’t undergone, Taylor would be the obvious choice now. However I see more similarity in personality between you two than… well, with Zac.”  
“Zac’s a drummer,” Isaac offered, clasping his hands together and wishing Seth would just leave already.  
He wasn’t sure how long he could hold out punching him if he continued this line of conversation.  
“That explains a lot,” Seth nodded, before sighing, “guess I’ll go see the odd one out then.”  
Isaac frowned as Seth just smiled down at him before turning to walk out.


	47. 47

Zac grunted as a bang on the door woke him up the next morning. When he heard the beam being moved away, he rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed in preparation for the door to open.  
It was Victor with his breakfast.  
“’Morning,” he mumbled as he walked in and dumped it on the drawers, “eat up. Nigel wants to head out in a half hour.”  
Zac just raised an eyebrow as he tried to work out Victor’s outline. The candle had gone out long ago and the sun wouldn’t be up for another couple of hours he knew.  
“Thanks,” he managed to croak out before Victor disappeared again, closing the door behind him.  
Begrudgingly pulling himself from where he’d finally gotten warm under the blankets, he reached across and felt for the plate. When his fingers hit pancakes his eyebrows rose in surprise. They were even still warm.  
He ate quickly before getting himself dressed in some warmer clothing. He remembered all too well how cold it was outside last time he’d been there. He eyed his shoes with the hidden magnets, wondering if he should wear those inside his snow boots, but decided against it. If he ever did need to escape from here, it certainly wasn’t going to be on day one.  
Once he was ready he got up and knocked on the door before gathering the plate and a large jacket he intended to wear out. Victor soon returned to collect him and he led him back through the cabin.  
As they passed a kitchen area Zac set the empty plate on a windowed bar, a middle aged woman taking it straight away and adding it to her pile of dishes. She offered Zac a smile as she did so and he returned it. He recognised her too, but he’d never learnt her name.  
He paused by the back door to slip the jacket on as Victor opened it before following him out. Nigel was on the porch readying three rifles, and he looked up as Zac appeared.  
“Zac,” was his greeting.  
Zac eyed him warily. Nigel was resting one foot on a beaten old chair, and Zac knew it was the one he’d hit.   
He was brought back to reality when he heard the sound of chains behind him, and turned to see Victor readying the leash he also remembered all too well. Keeping his groan inward he waited patiently as Victor locked it onto his collar before he finished zipping up the jacket to just below where the chain came out.  
“Where we headed?” Victor asked as Zac pulled the furry hood over his head.  
“North,” Nigel replied, “got a hint there were some grizzlies up on the ridge.”  
Zac baulked as Victor unexpectedly pulled on the chain, and he followed him down to where a sled was set up ready. Victor locked the chain to it as Zac pulled on some gloves he’d found in the pocket of the jacket.  
“They about ready?”  
Zac looked up to see Nigel looking down the sight of the rifle he held. In his direction.  
“Good to go,” he confirmed, smirking as he put it down again.  
Zac just glared and said nothing. Nigel collected the weapons along with a heavy duffel and followed them down to the snow, handing Victor one rifle and keeping the other for himself.  
“You’ll be right with that, won’t you Oklahoma?” Nigel dumped the duffel onto the sled.  
“Right,” Zac assured, already wishing he’d aimed higher that day.  
“Fowler said to lay off him,” Victor warned.  
“Not even touching him,” Nigel held his hand up innocently, “come on then.”


	48. 48

Taylor had been making his third attempt at counting the cracks in the ceiling – he’d lost count twice already – when he heard someone coming down the corridor again. The footsteps weren’t heavy enough to be Jerry’s, but there were still a few possible visitors to choose from so he turned his attention to the door.  
“Hey,” the gunman greeted casually.  
“May I?”  
Taylor grit his teeth when he heard Kadie’s voice. He wasn’t sure if he preferred her or Kathryn now.  
“Go ahead,” was the gunman’s reply before he heard the door unlocking.  
She slipped through the door and left it open a slight crack before turning to him with a grin.  
“I got you something,” she bit her lip.  
Taylor frowned as he wondered what she could possibly offer him, before his eyes widened when she revealed the bottle of water she’d had behind her back. Taking a step forward she threw it to him and he immediately took the cap off and sculled half of it.  
Kadie chuckled to herself as she came closer, taking a seat against the wall to his left to wait for him to finish. He stopped for a breather just after half and carefully wiped his dry lips.  
“Thank you,” he choked out, sparing her a glance before looking down at the bottle and catching his breath.  
“You’re welcome,” Kadie smiled as she watched on.  
Taylor had another sip after a moment before looking around for where he’d dropped the cap. He soon found it and shook the dirt out before replacing it on the bottle. He didn’t know when he’d see another one, so while he desperately wanted to finish it off he knew he had to save it.  
“Why?” he asked her after an awkward moment of realising she was staring at him.  
“No one else would,” Kadie shrugged, “and it’s kind of my job.”  
“Your job?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose, “how do you figure?”  
“Well… you were promised to me, remember?” she pointed out, “back on day one?”  
“Kadie…” Taylor’s eyes narrowed.  
“Surely you of all people would remember,” she went on, “when he shot my boyfriend at point blank range and then said ‘here, have Taylor’.”  
“Seth wanted me to be your Master,” Taylor shook his head, “Kadie, I can’t do that.”  
“Oh I know that,” Kadie nodded as she began cleaning her nails, “but I already know not to expect that from you. In fact I think it would be hilarious if you even tried to now. It’d just be… silly.”  
“Then what do you think this is?” Taylor frowned, “because I don’t know how many times I can tell you that Seth really isn’t planning on keeping me around for long.”  
“Oh but he has to,” Kadie locked eyes with him suddenly, “because you’re mine.”  
Taylor faltered, suddenly lost for words. He opened his mouth to say something – stopped to think of how to reword it – then tried again.  
“You want to be _my_ Master?” he had to confirm.  
“It’s the only way I can logically see this working,” Kadie shrugged, “and Seth agrees with me.”  
“Seth agrees?” Taylor was flabbergasted, “Kadie… my masters don’t have a great track record for staying alive. You know that, right? Seth himself killed one of them, who happened to kill the other one. And as for Nate…”  
“That was when Seth wanted you for himself,” Kadie pointed out, “and now he doesn’t.”  
“Don’t worry, she’ll receive formal training,” Taylor jumped as Seth’s voice came from the doorway.


	49. 49

“See? Told you so,” Kadie said pointedly.  
“Kay?” Seth got her attention before nodding over his shoulder, “scram.”  
Kadie looked disgruntled, but pulled herself to her feet.  
“I’ll see you later,” she assured Taylor before making her way out.  
Taylor’s eyes darted between the two of them until she disappeared. Seth waited until she was a good way down the corridor before he opened his mouth again.  
“I trust you’re finding the accommodations here… comfortable?” he seemed to tease.  
Taylor wasn’t sure if he expected a response or not, so he stayed quiet. Seth waited a moment before smiling slightly.  
“Very well. We’ll get on with it then, shall we?”  
Taylor frowned as Seth ducked his head outside and told the guard to call Jerry down. When he returned to the room, Taylor pulled together the courage to ask.  
“Are you going to kill me?”  
“Of course I am,” Seth confirmed, “just not today.”  
Taylor looked up as the gunman came into the room and set his AK-47 aside. Seth indicated the middle of the floor.  
“Hold him down, I’ll secure his feet,” he instructed.  
“What are you doing?” Taylor’s eyes darted, now very worried.  
Neither of them replied. The gunman leant over and took hold of the chain just below the collar, Taylor putting his hands on the collar to stop himself choking as he was pulled to his feet. He was dragged forward a few feet to almost the centre of the room before he was pushed down again and the gunman held the chain back so that Seth had access to his ankles.  
Seth muttered to himself as he knelt in the dirt, taking hold of the shackle on Taylor’s right ankle before pulling something from his coat. It looked like a thin version of a railroad spike.  
He fit it through the padlock on the shackle before pulling a small mallet from his coat as well and using it to beat the nail into the ground. Once it was secure Taylor instinctively tried pulling on it, but it was set hard into the clay below the dirt.  
He soon did the same to the other ankle, keeping them apart as far as the chains would allow. By the time he was done Jerry had arrived.  
“About time,” Seth grunted as he pulled himself up and brushed the dirt from his knees, “I’d like you to record this. We’re going to send our little friend a video.”  
“What are you doing?!” Taylor tried again, desperately trying not to panic but knowing something was coming and it wasn’t going to be good.  
Jerry simply got out his phone and found the camera again.  
“It’s too dark in here,” the gunman pointed out, not letting go of the chain below the collar, “when we did the other one you could barely see him without a light.”  
“Trust me, that won’t be a problem,” Seth assured, pulling a small clear bottle from his pocket.  
He watched as Jerry readied himself and waited for his nod.  
“I would brace myself Taylor, because this is really going to hurt,” he couldn’t help but smile as he emptied the contents of the bottle over Taylor’s right foot.  
Taylor had expected it to be some kind of acid, and was relieved when it wasn’t. But the smell instantly gave away what it really was.  
His eyes widened as Seth followed up by lighting a match and dropping it onto the fuel.


	50. 50

“NO!” Taylor yelled before it hit.  
The flames rose immediately and he cried out as his skin blistered just as fast.  
“Make sure you get a close-up,” Seth instructed Jerry casually.  
Jerry knelt down, keeping far enough away from the fire but making sure he had a good enough view on the video to make sure that it was obviously Taylor in it, and what was happening to him. Taylor was fighting against the gunman with all his might but his strength was simply no match.  
“Got enough?” Seth asked as Jerry stood again.  
“Enough,” Jerry nodded, grimacing at the smell already.  
Seth took off the heavy scarf he’d been wearing and dropped it onto Taylor’s foot, clamping down on it to extinguish the flames. Taylor’s cries took a lot longer to die down, and by then Jerry had disappeared.  
“What did he do?!” Taylor struggled to get out, one hand on the chain to the collar and the other holding the gunman’s wrist, “did Zac do something? Did he not give in?!”  
“This has nothing to do with Zac,” Seth assured, taking back his scarf before the gunman finally dropped the chain.  
Taylor landed on his back and quickly pulled himself onto his side, still trying to pull on his ankles. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he resisted the urge to keep yelling. For all purposes it still felt as if his foot were on fire.  
“This was a video for Nathan,” Seth revealed as he shook the scarf off.  
“Nate?” Taylor barely gasped, looking up at him through sweat-matted hair.  
“Yes, Nate,” Seth confirmed, “if I had to venture a guess at one thing that would make him come running, it would be seeing his slave being tortured by… well, me.”  
“Nate’s not gonna come running,” Taylor gulped as his voice broke, “he tortures me himself, why would he care?!”  
“Oh he cares,” Seth insisted, returning the scarf to his neck as the gunman went to retrieve his rifle, “and I happen to know that he’s not far away, either.”  
“What do you mean?” Taylor frowned, still clenching his teeth in agony.  
“What do you think Nate’s been doing with all his free time lately?” Seth seemed to mock, “I can assure you he’s spent a lot of time in Washington up until recently. Say, up until a few days ago.”  
Taylor’s eyes lowered to the ground as he had to force his arms to keep himself up.  
“If there’s one thing Nate cares more about in this world than you, I don’t know what it is. So we are going to send him that little video, and he is either going to give himself up to us, or he is going to somehow try and rescue you.”  
Seth rolled his eyes at the thought as Taylor’s arms finally collapsed from under him.  
“Either way, he’ll soon be enjoying our hospitality. And I can tick something else off my to-do list.”  
“Why don’t you just kill me?” Taylor struggled to get out, “maybe he’ll come for revenge.”  
“Oh no, we’re not done with you yet either,” Seth insisted, “but do take note that once we have both Zac and Nate in our custody your worth becomes very limited. Any day you live after such a time I will purely be holding you as a favour to Connor. So really at the moment, your life depends on Nate not being found and Connor staying in prison. Of which time is quickly running out on both.”  
Taylor cringed as his fists clenched mounds of dirt. The tears kept coming.  
“Enjoy your stay,” Seth said in a cunning tone before leaving and locking the cell again.  
Taylor immediately tried to reach out for the water bottle, but his ankles were anchored too far.


	51. 51

The sun had been up for a while as Zac, Victor and Nigel slowly made their way back to the cabin. Nigel had taken down a young male grizzly whose carcass was now on the sled Zac was struggling to pull behind him. Neither Nigel nor Victor bothered to help, and he didn’t expect them to.  
It took them a long time to get back, making Zac realise just how far off track they’d gone on the hunt.   
Victor directed Zac around to a small slaughterhouse built onto the side of the cabin which was basically just a thin tin shed with a workbench and meat hooks. He helped Zac get the bear inside and onto the bench before Victor finally unlocked the chain from the sled and led Zac inside.  
They removed their gloves and jackets and set them on hangers by the door before washing their hands in a sink beside it. Victor then led Zac to the table Nigel already occupied which sat just in front of the bar, and after locking the chain to one of the solid legs he took a seat across from him. Zac wearily sat next to Victor, staying slightly turned away from Nigel who’d pulled out a hunting knife and started carving the table.  
“How’d you boys go?” the woman who’d done the dishes earlier appeared from the doorway beside the bar.  
“I got a young one. He’s big,” Nigel answered, looking directly at Victor as he did so.  
“He’ll do us for some time,” Victor nodded, casting a glance at Zac who was keeping his eyes down.  
“Well I hope you’ve worked up an appetite, ‘cause I’ve made just enough rabbit stew to last us half a week,” the woman looked as if she felt like telling them to put the rulers away already.  
“Yes ma’am,” Nigel smirked, not taking his eyes from Victor.  
Victor’s eyes narrowed as the woman disappeared back into the kitchen.   
“I wouldn’t get too high and mighty. She does know it’s the first thing you’ve caught in a week,” he scorned.  
“Still bigger than everything you got,” Nigel still had the smirk on his face, “rabbit boy.”  
Zac rolled his eyes.  
“And what you got to say about it, boy?” Nigel demanded.  
“Leave him alone,” Victor groaned, running a hand through his black hair.  
“Why?” Nigel frowned to him, “we’re just havin’ a friendly chat. You know, old buddies and all that.”  
Victor smirked, showing just what he thought of it.  
“So what of it?” Nigel turned his attention to Zac again, “you got something to say about Vic’s hunting technique?”  
“No,” Zac shot Victor an innocent glance, “but I could sure say a few things about yours.”  
Nigel stabbed the knife into the table suddenly, and Zac didn’t even flinch. But his eyes followed him as he stood and came to Zac’s end of the table.  
“And what you gonna say?” he demanded, coming close enough to make Zac look up at him, “you don’t like the way I do my job out there?”  
“I didn’t say that,” Zac scorned.  
“Nigel… back off,” Victor said it as a warning.  
“What? You decided to take him under your wing or somethin’?” Nigel scoffed.  
“Nigel, if you want to take a swing at me, go ahead,” Zac shook his head tiredly, “the amount of times I’ve been punched in the face makes me think my skull has formed some sort of adamantium shell. So just go ahead.”  
Nigel cast Victor a glance, who just shrugged. Without further warning he clocked Zac across the jaw.


	52. 52

Zac barely leant backward with the force of the punch. Nigel was strong for his size, but still puny in comparison to anyone else that had hit him recently.  
He opened his eyes in time to see Nigel about to take a second swing and suddenly ducked out of the way, almost making Nigel fall over. Pride stung to the quick, Nigel found his feet and was about to go for him again when Victor jumped up and grabbed the back of Zac’s jacket pulling him clear just in time.  
“Cut it out,” Victor glared, “if Fowler finds out-“  
“He’s not gonna find out,” Nigel returned the look, catching himself as Zac looked between them.  
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” the voice of the woman came from behind them, making them turn back to the doorway, “I don’t mind telling him at all.”  
“Aw but Mrs T!” Nigel groaned.  
“Sit down, Nigel,” the woman scorned, “eat your dinner and shut up.”  
Nigel glared at Zac before moving back around the table and taking his former seat again. Victor waited until he was sitting before he took a seat himself.  
The woman placed a large bowl of stew on the table in front of both of them before going back to the bar to fetch Zac’s. When he thanked her for giving it to him, she gave him a hard look.  
“If he gives you a hard time, you make sure you let Victor know,” she insisted.  
“I will. Thank you,” Zac nodded.  
She stared at him a moment longer – just enough to make him uncomfortable – before turning her look on Nigel and heading back for the kitchen. Zac looked between Nigel and Victor before curling himself around the bowl and trying to ignore them as he ate.  
Nigel muttered something under his breath, undoubtedly derogatory.

*

Taylor had barely moved since Seth had left the cell. He’d certainly shed his share of tears in that time, mainly for the pain but also for what Seth had told him.  
He couldn’t decide if the waiting was going to be worse than Paris. At least there while he’d panicked it had been over somewhat quick.  
It took some time before he managed to pull himself up into a sit, careful about not moving his foot. He knew he had to at least try and get the stakes out of the ground, or he risked both freezing without the heater and dehydrating without the water.  
He aimed for his left ankle first, not wanting to even look at the right. The dirt had been dug away a little so the stake could be driven into the clay, and while his legs didn’t have the strength to pull them out he was hoping they weren’t so far down that his hands couldn’t help either.   
He brushed the dirt aside so that he could see the shadow of where the stake sat, and tried to dig away at the top of the clay around it. Eventually he just took hold of as much of the stake as he could and tried to wriggle it free.  
It took some time, but it finally came loose. In the sudden pull back he had to cry out as his other foot pulled on that shackle, hitting some of the burns in the process.  
He threw the stake aside before digging around the one on his right and taking hold of it, trying not to pay attention to the mutilated skin in his peripheral. It took longer because he had to be careful, but eventually it came free.  
Immediately he lunged for the heater and had it turned on again, curling up in front of it as he tried to control his shakes. The water could wait for now.


	53. 53

Isaac groaned and rubbed his eyes as the arrival of breakfast woke him up. He’d been in so much pain the night before that he’d hardly gotten any sleep.  
As the cell light flickered to life he pulled himself up so that he was sitting on the bed, and as soon as his bare feet hit the floor he cringed.  
There were definitely blisters galore down there.  
Knowing it probably wouldn’t be there for long he reached over to take the bowl of food away from the slat before silently hoping that Hudson would take it easy on him this time. He was sure the day before had almost led him to a heart attack.  
He ate quickly knowing that the guard was waiting to take the bowl away again. Once he was finished he set the bowl back onto the slat, and a moment later it was gone and the door closed.  
Grimacing as he stood on his sore feet, he made his way to the basin to wash his hands and face. As soon as he could, he sat to take the weight off them again.  
It was a lot longer before anyone came to open his door, and he’d been tempted to try and sleep again before it happened. When the door opened to reveal Hudson again, Isaac looked worried and Hudson caught onto it.  
“Are you ill?” he asked simply.  
“No,” Isaac replied honestly.  
“Then what is it?”  
Isaac hesitated, before lifting his left foot across his right knee so that Hudson could see the underside of his foot. Hudson flinched backward as if Isaac had spat at him.  
“I had expected possible repercussions from our tests yesterday,” he managed a sigh once he’d pulled himself together, but he obviously still had trouble looking in Isaac’s direction, “we’ll have to pass on the physical examination for two days or so. I will be back to see you once I’ve configured the schedule accordingly.”  
Isaac was watching him curiously the whole time. Before anything else could be said, Hudson nodded to the guard who closed and locked the door again.  
Listening to their footsteps fading away, Isaac thought about what he’d just witnessed. Hudson’s behaviour was certainly odd, but Isaac and his brothers had always maintained that in order to function in this underground world there had to be some screws loose. Hudson seemed to have lost some altogether which had been evident from the start, but Isaac was now picking up on something else.  
His demeanour added to the immaculate way the base was up kept (Isaac had noticed his cell had been cleaned out while he’d been at training the day before) led him to the conclusion that Hudson had obsessive compulsive disorder. It would certainly explain a lot about him and his mannerisms.  
Wondering how someone with such a disorder managed to keep it together in such a profession, Isaac lay back down on the bed and covered his eyes. He didn’t know how long Hudson would be and he could definitely use the extra sleep in.  
Thinking about Seth and Taylor had also kept him awake the night before, even as Seth had somewhat promised that he’d be keeping him alive for the time being.   
He also couldn’t help but think of Vance. Just days ago they were joking about hitting the nightclubs of New York together on their ‘time off’. Then just like that, he was gone.  
The scenario made him think of Rick as well. So many of their friends and allies had died throughout.  
With a groan he rolled onto his side, trying to keep his feet clear of the bed sheets.


	54. 54

Just as Taylor was starting to feel his body heat return he heard the door opening again. Not bothering to move to check who it was, he closed his eyes in relief when he heard something hit the ground and the door close again after it.  
Knowing already what it was but wanting to confirm it he finally pulled himself out of the foetal position and rolled over onto his back. He soon caught sight of the bread roll and sighed thankfully.  
Being very careful and holding the chain that led to his right foot out, he began crawling to make his way over to it. When he successfully reached it he took it with him back into the corner where the water bottle still sat and began to eat.  
It didn’t take long to finish off and he had a mouthful of the water to wash it down.   
He wasn’t sure how long it had been since Seth had left. His perception of time had seemed to utterly evade him since being down there in the dark for what he assumed was now about three days or so.   
Holding onto his stomach as he felt the bread going down, he groaned and leant his head back as he began to feel sick again. Then with the fingertips on his right hand he carefully traced the scar on his left hip where Nate had stabbed him in the cabin.  
He vaguely remembered Isaac mentioning a conversation he’d had with Nate about the Creed’s bases. Connor’s name had come up then. Knowing that he was at Connor’s base, he began hoping that at least Nate might know where he was.  
Maybe he was working on the ‘rescue’ already, without Seth’s torture video as incentive. Maybe he could take them by surprise. It seemed about all he could hope for right now.  
Lost in thought he didn’t realise he was staring at the stakes. When it finally clicked, he frowned.  
With a glance toward the door he lifted the chain to his foot again and carefully crawled forward. When he made it to the closest one, he pulled it into his hand and tested the sharp end against the wrist that held the chain.  
They would certainly do some damage if he could get some weight behind them.  
He moved over to grab the other one as well before retreating back to the corner. Keeping an eye on the door to make sure the gunman didn’t decide to peek in at the wrong moment, he dug a small hole in the corner and dropped the stakes into it before covering them over. Hopefully they’d forget they were even there, and if it came down to it… he could use them for defence.  
As soon as he thought that it also crossed his mind that he could use them to take his own life. Before Seth could get around to it. Quickly trying to will the thought away he turned his attention to the ceiling again and resumed counting the cracks for the fourth time.  
But try as he might, the thought wouldn’t leave.  
He covered his mouth with his hands as he tried to keep himself together, while still trying to keep his right foot clear of the floor by leaning the shackle onto his left foot. The chains weren’t long enough for him to cross his legs, or to even hold it with his hands without having to bend forward.  
“How did it come to this?” he asked himself, closing his eyes.  
Seventeen years earlier he’d been on top of the world. Even twelve years earlier when he’d started a family. Now he was sitting in a cold, dark dungeon covered in more scars than he could even count and wanted dead by more people than he even knew.  
He hated the idea of pinning all his hopes on Nate, but he’d easily take being back at the cabin over Connor’s dungeon. Even if Nate’s idea of punishment bordered on fatal torture, at least he’d fought to keep him alive. As long as he was alive he still had a chance.


	55. 55

Zac looked up as the door to his room was opened. He’d been confined in there for most likely the entire afternoon – ever since the tense lunch with Nigel and Victor.   
He was relieved when he saw that it was Victor who’d opened it.  
“Come on out, time to eat,” he nodded over his shoulder.  
“Don’t I need a chain?” Zac’s eyebrows rose as he stood from the bed.  
“We’ll see how long we can get away without it,” Victor mused, turning on his heel.  
Zac pursed his lips, hoping Victor wasn’t going to get him into trouble already. He followed him out to the dining area where Nigel was already seated and waiting. The older woman was bustling around in the kitchen as usual.   
Nigel’s eyes set on him the moment he entered the room, and Zac tried to ignore him as he took a seat beside Victor.  
“Where’s his leash?” Nigel demanded as soon as he was down.  
“Fowler said we could try him without it,” Victor almost looked smug as he informed him.  
“I call bull,” Nigel grunted, “he was leashed full time last time.”  
“So go and ask him yourself,” Victor shrugged.  
“I might just do that,” Nigel scowled, “but only if you chain him up, ‘cause otherwise I ain’t letting him out of my sight.”  
“And where’s he gonna run to?” Victor scorned, “we’re in the middle of nowhere, and it’s freezing out there. Even I wouldn’t run in that.”  
“You never did,” Nigel pointed the blade of his knife in Victor’s direction.  
“I’m not gonna run,” Zac felt the need to cut in, both men’s eyes locking on him.  
“I’ve got way too much incentive to stay this time. And I actually want to learn something here.”  
“Bull,” Nigel scoffed.  
“What do they have on you?” Victor frowned, catching his meaning.  
Zac looked between them, not really wanting to talk about it but glad he’d been somewhat entered into conversation for once.  
“The Creeds have my brothers,” his eyes lowered to the table as he absently scratched at his forehead.  
“Then they’re probably dead,” Nigel muttered, returning to carving the table.  
“Why?” Victor asked with concern, seeing Zac’s face pale, “what would they want with your brothers?”  
“Seth took them as incentive for me to come back here,” Zac explained, shaking some hair from his eyes without looking up, “and… one of them might have killed his older brother. They’ve both been through the program too.”  
“Connor’s dead?” Victor frowned.  
“No, Ryan,” Zac’s eyes finally met his, “Ryan Creed. He was in Paris, and we got caught there and…”  
He trailed off, trying to think of how to explain it without having to delve into anything too deep.  
“They tried to kill him, so he got Ryan first.”  
“I never met Ryan,” Victor gave Nigel a glance as if to make sure he wasn’t paying attention, “I went in under Connor.”  
“Connor’s in jail. Also because of my brother,” Zac admitted, “Seth wasn’t happy about that either.”  
“Then he’s definitely dead,” Nigel muttered again.  
“Hate to say it, but if Seth’s anything like Connor…” Victor shrugged, “he’s right.”


	56. 56

“I guess I just have to hope that you’re wrong,” Zac lowered his eyes again, “my coming here was in return for him keeping them alive. He said he wouldn’t let them go, but he’d keep them alive.”  
“And you trust Seth?” Nigel couldn’t help but smirk without looking up, “what an idjit.”  
Victor looked across at him, then back to Zac.  
“So you’re only here because of them?” he raised a brow, “or is there something else?”  
Zac looked between the two of them for a moment, unsure if he should go on or not. He couldn’t tell if they were genuinely interested, striking up conversation because they were bored, or trying to find something to use against him.  
“And I want to talk to Fowler,” he admitted finally.  
Nigel almost choked on bile before the portly woman appeared in the doorway to the kitchen again. She set bowls down in front of Nigel and Victor before returning to the kitchen.  
“You want to talk to Fowler?” Nigel actually looked surprised.  
“Yeah,” Zac frowned, “why? Is that so unusual?”  
“Fowler isn’t really… someone that you ‘talk’ to,” Victor looked like he was having trouble explaining himself, “you take orders and that’s it. He’s master of the household, if you know what I mean.”  
“I do,” Zac assured, “but I still want to know why I’m here.”  
“You’re here because we needed more hands on deck,” Nigel’s eyes narrowed again, “that’s all.”  
Zac caught sight of the woman standing in the kitchen doorway, holding his bowl. She looked to be trying to eavesdrop without being noticed so he turned his eyes away.  
“That can’t be all,” Zac was trying not to argue but still get his point across, “otherwise why didn’t he settle for someone else? It’s been over a year now, and he was determined to get me - _me_ \- back here. There would have been plenty of other people to choose from between then and now, but he wanted me.”  
Victor was staring at him consideringly.  
“A contract’s a contract,” Nigel shrugged, stirring the stew with his spoon, “that’s all there is to it.”  
Zac grit his teeth, knowing he was risking another confrontation with Nigel if he took it much further. The woman took the break in conversation to bring Zac his bowl, and he quietly thanked her before she disappeared again.  
“Nigel…” Victor looked across at him suddenly, “remember what happened to Tommy?”  
“Drop it,” Nigel’s voice had a warning tone to it.  
Victor gave Zac a glance before leaning forward as he stirred his own stew.  
“I’m just saying. That doesn’t set the best example. Maybe the kid’s right.”  
“I said drop it.”  
One of Zac’s eyes narrowed at being called a ‘kid’ when Victor didn’t even seem that much older than him. Deciding not to tense the air further, he began to eat himself.  
After a long and awkward moment of silence as they ate, Zac couldn’t handle it any more.  
“Who was Tommy?” he asked quietly.  
Nigel dropped his spoon into the stew and glared at Victor.  
“Never mind,” Victor assured, “just eat your dinner.”  
Zac hesitated as he got the feeling that Victor really wanted to tell him, but he did as he was told. Nigel soon got back to his own, and when they were done they each stood and took their bowls back to the bar.  
Nigel still refused to let Zac out of his sight until he was secured back inside his room for the night.


	57. 57

Isaac knew it had been a long time since Hudson had been to the door, but he was still surprised when the slat opened again first. As he ventured over to the door to retrieve his dinner he took a quick look out to the outside window and realised that the sun was already going down.  
Apparently he hadn’t been in the ‘need to know’ on the schedule change after all.  
Once he was finished and the bowl was taken back, it wasn’t long before he heard the door being opened. Wondering if it were Hudson returning or for something else, he didn’t move from the bed.  
Hudson appeared as it opened.  
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I was caught up with another trainee,” he apologised.  
Isaac simply raised a brow, not sure how he was supposed to take that.  
“Usually we’ll need someone with more of a medical background to check you over and confirm, but as we don’t have anyone onsite and this has happened before I’m confident with issuing my own limitations on your activity,” he went on, “you’ll have three days grace – including today – and we’ll resume your physical training then.”  
“Okay,” Isaac nodded.  
“Of course while I have others to focus on in the meantime, we can always work on your psychiatric evaluation,” Hudson added, “so I will set aside some time for that in the afternoons.”  
“Psych evaluation?” Isaac looked confused.  
“Think of it as more of a conformity confirmation.”  
Isaac cursed inside his head, wondering what exactly they had in store for him to make him prove his loyalty. He knew all about Taylor and Zac’s ‘rebirths’ with Krüger’s pistol but he could already tell that Hudson wasn’t going to be as… messy.  
“We’ll also work on your verbal response and timing,” Hudson nodded to the guard, “goodnight Isaac.”  
“Goodnight,” Isaac called back as the door was closed.  
He waited until the light was turned off and their footsteps had faded away before groaning and collapsing back onto the bed.  
He thought he’d been doing alright with the verbal commands and such. He’d been doing whatever Hudson had asked of him, regardless of how much he’d hated doing it or how hard it had been. He couldn’t think of what else he could do to prove his obedience.

*

Taylor was startled awake by a sharp pain in his already damaged right foot. Thinking it was a nerve reaction he tried to close his eyes again, only to feel it a second time moments later.  
Looking up to try and see if something else was wrong with his foot, he jumped when he saw a dark shape moving beside it.  
The rat bolted for the door, disappearing underneath it.  
“Oh my God!” Taylor couldn’t help but exclaim, putting two and two together straight away and realising the rat had been trying to eat his foot.  
“Shut up in there,” he heard the gunman’s voice, making his eyes dart to the door.  
“I was being eaten by a rat!” Taylor scorned, “you try staying quiet when it happens to you!”  
He heard the gunman standing up, and immediately regretted answering back. The door was unlocked and opened and he stood with his AK-47 at the ready.  
“Where is it?” he demanded.  
“It ran out,” Taylor’s eyes darted as he sat up, “I’m sorry. I was just startled, that’s all.”


	58. 58

Zac jumped as he heard his door opening. It was long past light’s out, and his candle had been out so long he’d already fallen asleep.  
“Zac?” he heard Victor’s voice.  
“I’m awake,” Zac assured, having to clear his throat.  
He pushed aside the blankets and sat up on the bed. Victor closed the door behind him before switching on a flashlight, Zac taking a second to blanch at the brightness.  
“What’s going on?” Zac murmured, shielding his eyes before Victor pointed it to the floor.  
Victor paused by the door as if deciding whether he should even be there or not. After a moment he took a seat beside Zac on the bed.  
“You’ve got some questions,” he said almost cautiously, “I might be able to help you with some of them.”  
“Who’s Tommy?” Zac fired off straight away.  
“Tommy…” Victor winced, “he was here before I was. He ran.”  
“He ran?” Zac’s eyebrows rose, “from here? From Fowler?”  
“Not from here,” Victor amended, “from the other cabin. The one the army found.”  
Zac hesitated as it sank in.  
“What happened?” he asked.  
“As far as I know he was found and killed,” Victor shrugged, “and they brought me in as a replacement. Which is why I thought of it when you were asking why you hadn’t been replaced.”  
Zac groaned and rubbed his face.  
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he tried to keep his voice down but it was hard, “why me? Why am I so important to him? Is it something to do with Krüger? And why won’t he even talk to me? Even when I was brought in he never spoke to me directly. I might as well have not even been in the room!”  
“That’s the idea,” Victor shrugged, “they need you to think you’re not important. You need to learn your place straight off the bat. Learn that you’re the very bottom of the food chain.”  
“Oh trust me, Krüger instilled that professionally,” Zac insisted, “and I know my place. Heck, Nigel made it obvious from day one.”  
“I know he’s not impressed with your comeback,” Victor couldn’t help but smirk, “especially now that you have a backbone.”  
Zac smirked back.  
“I can’t help but get the feeling you appreciate it,” his eyes narrowed.  
“Can’t say it isn’t entertaining at the least,” Victor admitted.  
“So how did you do it?” Zac asked, “how did you get to a point where Nigel actually listens to you? How long have you even been here with them?”  
Victor hesitated, and Zac caught his forlorn look.  
“A long time,” was all he offered in response.  
Zac bit his lip, not wanting to press the issue.  
“Connor, huh?” he decided to change the subject.  
“Yeah,” Victor nodded, “though I didn’t know his name at the time.”  
“We didn’t learn Krüger’s until after he died,” Zac admitted, “but Seth liked to introduce himself.”  
“I never met Seth,” Victor shook his head, “have to admit I didn’t think they were that close.”  
“Well,” Zac sighed, “apparently my family has a knack for bringing their family together.”


	59. 59

“Any sign of it out there?” Taylor asked what seemed to be hours later.  
“I said shut up.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes as he rubbed the chain between his fingers.  
“You know… I get that it’s not really fair. This is as much a punishment for you as it is for me,” he went on, “stuck down here with no one to talk to. Obviously no phone reception so you can’t even text anyone.”  
He paused, wondering if the gunman would respond. When he didn’t he took a deep breath.  
“I’m just saying, it’s not really fair on you. You should at least ask for a shift change once in a while. Don’t tell me you haven’t fallen asleep in all this time.”  
“I said _shut up_!”  
“No,” Taylor frowned, “and I swear to God that if you don’t start talking to me, I am going to start singing Henry the Eighth because I have _absolutely_ nothing better to do with my time. And by the way I sing professionally, so I can guarantee that I will do it longer than Swayze.”  
There was a slight pause.  
“You were a drama dork in high school, weren’t you?”  
“Maybe if I went to school, I might have been,” Taylor’s eyes lowered.  
It was surprisingly a relief that the gunman didn’t know who he was. Everyone else seemed to.  
“What’s your name?” he shook some hair out of his eyes.  
“That’s none of your business.”  
Taylor pursed his lips, considering the statement.  
“Then what do I call you?” he asked.  
“Guard.”  
“Okay…” Taylor nodded to himself, “and I guess there’s no point in asking what you do for a living…”  
He tapped his right thumb against the shackle on his left wrist as he tried to think of something else.  
“Ever thought of other employment?” he raised an eyebrow.  
“I should not be talking to you.”  
“Why not?” Taylor scorned, “because Seth told you not to? Or is it something like… trying not to befriend the goose your Dad brings home because you know it’ll eventually be killed and eaten?”  
“You’re isolated for a reason,” the gunman came back with, “you’re not supposed to be talking to anyone.”  
“And what about you?”  
“It’s why I get paid the big bucks.”  
Taylor sighed, leaning back against the wall. He wished he knew just how far the whole operation ran. Not that it made much of a difference at this point.  
“Seth told you I can get into peoples’ heads, didn’t he?” he asked somewhat softly.  
No response again.  
“It’s one of his favourite lines,” he went on, “I think it’s just a way for him to cut me off from the world even more.”  
“Why would he do that?”  
Taylor shrugged, surprised he’d even spoken again.  
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the world he hates more than me right now,” he lowered his head again.  
When there was no further response or instigation, Taylor gave up for the moment.


	60. 60

Zac thanked Victor the following morning when he brought his breakfast in, wondering idly as he left the door open when he walked out.  
So much for Krüger giving him too much freedom too soon. If Fowler had been based anywhere near civilisation, he would have been out of there so easily.  
He guessed that was why he had the freedom. There really was nowhere to go anyway.  
With an inward sigh he ate his breakfast before getting himself ready and taking the bowl out into the kitchen area. Victor was just putting his larger jacket on by the door, and Nigel was nowhere to be seen.  
Taking advantage of the moment, Zac slipped over to the bar where the woman was waiting to take his empty dish.  
“Morning,” he greeted, already making her pause.  
For a moment he panicked, wondering if he should have skipped the pleasantries.  
“Good morning,” she replied with an awkward stare.  
Zac quickly checked over his shoulder. He’d caught Victor’s attention already.  
“Hey, I was wondering… I know I’m not supposed to ask you anything,” Zac at least had a sheepish look on his face as he did so, “do you get to talk to Fowler often?”  
He jumped as he heard Victor suddenly make a beeline for him and put his hands flat on the bar for leverage. The woman’s face had paled and her eyes turned away.  
“Is there any chance you could convince him to talk to me?!” Zac tried before Victor grabbed him.  
“Sorry Mrs T. It won’t happen again,” Victor apologised for him, dragging him away from the bar by the shoulder of his jacket.  
“Victor-“  
“Shut up,” Victor scorned under his breath, “you’re going to get us both killed.”  
“I doubt that,” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
“Me!” Victor stopped at the door, pulling Zac’s jacket from the hanger and shoving it into his chest, “you will get _me_ killed if you keep this up.”  
“Why?” Zac frowned, “this has nothing to do with you.”  
Victor cast a wary glance toward the kitchen. The woman had gone back to her duties, trying to ignore the two.  
“Because you’re my responsibility,” Victor was pleading with him now, “please don’t make this harder for me.”  
“Yours? Since when?” Zac frowned, pulling his jacket on nonetheless, “I thought I was Nigel’s responsibility?”  
“You really think Fowler would trust Nigel with you after what you did?” Victor pointed out.  
“So far so good,” Zac shrugged.  
Victor gave him a condescending look.  
“Well no one’s shot each other yet, alright?”  
“You’ve been here barely three days,” Victor’s eyes narrowed, “who says he isn’t just getting started with that black eye you’re sporting?”  
Zac’s hand went to his cheek, feeling the tenderness around the bottom of his eye. He really hadn’t thought Nigel had hit him that hard.  
“Whatever he dishes out, I can take him,” he insisted.  
“I’m sure,” Victor smirked, opening the door to a blast of chill air, “but let’s not find out today.”


	61. 61

Taylor opened his eyes as he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. He hadn’t been trying to sleep, but he was perpetually tired nonetheless.  
“What are you doing here so early?” he heard the gunman ask.  
…Early? He wondered what time it was, but he knew asking wouldn’t get him an honest answer. It could have been mid-afternoon for all he knew.  
The voice that responded was too low for him to make out but he could tell it wasn’t Seth. He instantly began hoping that it wasn’t Jerry coming down to have some ‘fun’.  
“Seth didn’t tell me you were coming.”  
Another quiet response, shorter this time. Then the gunman got his feet.  
“Well don’t be too long and I’m sure there won’t be a problem,” he said as he began to unlock the door.  
Taylor’s eyes darted as he sat up straighter, mind racing to try and figure out who it was. When the door finally opened and his latest visitor stepped inside… he could only stare in disbelief.  
Le Boucher.  
He waited until the door was closed behind him, but he didn’t move.  
“Bonjour Mr Hanson,” he greeted, “it is good to see you.”  
Taylor could feel his hands shaking, and he pulled them down as far into his lap as he could to try and hide it.  
“Why are you here?” his voice shook, unable to take his eyes away, “did Seth ask you to do it?”  
“Do… what?” Le Boucher looked intrigued.  
Taylor took a moment to swallow the lump in his throat.  
“Kill me,” he clarified, ducking his eyes for a second.  
“Heavens no,” Le Boucher began moving forward.  
Taylor straightened his back against the wall. He knew he wasn’t going anywhere, but he wanted as much space between them as possible. Le Boucher stopped just in front of him and knelt into the dirt, beginning to stare at him intently.  
“I am here because I wanted to look into the eyes of the man who was so desperate to live… that he managed to come back to life.”  
Taylor frowned at that. A moment of tense silence followed.  
“No one’s survived before, have they?” he finally asked.  
When the man didn’t answer, he clenched his fists and put them together. He’d still managed to keep his right foot elevated but it hit the ground now. Luckily most of the damage was to the top of his foot and not the sole.  
“How is it that you have managed to stay alive for so long?” his voice made Taylor jump.  
Taylor stared back at him, wondering how he expected him to answer that.   
“I only ask because Seth does not seem overly pleased with you,” Le Boucher seemed genuinely interested, “and he is not known for keeping anyone… unnecessarily.”  
Taylor’s eyes lowered as he tried to think. He had a simple enough answer, but he never thought he’d ever be in the same room as this man again and it was scaring the life out of him. He’d always just assumed that Nate had done enough damage to kill him and he’d never have to see him again.  
“Connor,” Taylor had to clear his throat again, “it’s for Connor.”  
“Connor Creed?” the man clarified, making Taylor unsure if it were a language barrier thing.  
“Yeah,” he nodded, “they both know that I killed Ryan.”


	62. 62

“So… you are being held as a matter of justice and personal vengeance.”  
Taylor nodded, annoyed to still find himself shaking.  
“Yeah,” he agreed, lifting his hands to rub his face, “that’s pretty much it.”  
When he took them away again, he noticed Le Boucher staring at his left hand. Panicking for a split second that there was something wrong with it he looked it over.  
“I apologise,” the man seemed confused, “I hadn’t noticed your wedding ring earlier.”  
“They tend to take it from me all the time,” Taylor welcomed the distraction.  
“I am sorry for your loss.”  
Taylor frowned, the words reminding him of Ramirez.   
“They’re not dead,” he felt the need to clarify, “my family is safe and sound. They’re under witness protection at the Pentagon.”  
When Le Boucher simply continued to stare in confusion, he grit his teeth as he tried to work out how to explain.  
“My brother and I were taken into the program by a rogue recruiter who I shared a history with,” he tried to make it both quick and simple enough to understand, “our families were never touched. It took months before either Krüger – my trainer - or Seth even realised that they were still alive.”  
“I guess you really are unique, aren’t you?” Le Boucher mused, “I haven’t heard of such a process. The Americans really seem to be letting their operation go.”  
“Well we’ve managed to keep them busy for a while,” Taylor’s eyebrows rose, “we took our escapes to the media and implicated both Seth and Connor. That’s why Connor’s in jail right now.”  
“No doubt why you’re also in chains,” Le Boucher nodded.  
Taylor hesitated before lowering his eyes again.  
“I take it your brother was the one to watch us in Paris?”  
“Yes,” Taylor replied softly, “they’re also holding me until he gives himself up.”  
“It seems you have some worth here after all then,” Le Boucher considered.  
“I don’t know about that,” Taylor shook his head, “they have our older brother too. I just don’t know where he is.”  
“There are three of you?”  
“Yes,” Taylor nodded.  
He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt like he had to be honest with this man, aside from obviously being considerably intimidated by his mere presence. But he had the feeling that Le Boucher was genuinely interested. He had to be, or there’d be no reason for him to be there in the first place.  
“Why do you care?” he felt the need to ask, “why did you come all this way? It wouldn’t be just to make sure I was breathing.”  
“Why not?” he tilted his head a little, “I’ve already said that you intrigue me.”  
“You could have done it over the phone,” Taylor pointed out, “Seth’s been making plenty of videos to use as bargaining chips. Case in point…”  
He indicated his foot. When Le Boucher did nothing but frown when he saw it, Taylor gulped slightly.  
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to question you so much,” he looked worried, “but… you intrigue me too.”  
“Do I?” his eyebrows rose a little.  
“It’s not every day you get to meet someone who’s killed you,” Taylor looked sheepish, “and I never got the chance to thank you for what you did. Out of everyone I’ve dealt with since this whole thing started… you were the only one to ever treat me like a human being.”


	63. 63

As the boys came in from the snow just after midday, Zac locked awkward eyes with the elder woman as she set some bowls of the rabbit stew on the table ready. He turned away to hang up his jacket as both Nigel and Victor made their way over.  
“How’d you go?” he heard her ask them.  
“Nothin’,” Nigel grumbled as he took his seat.  
“Not nothing,” Victor corrected as Zac followed, “Zac got a fox.”  
“Might as well be nothin’.”  
Zac shot him a glance as he took a seat, not bothering to say anything in retort.  
The woman set his bowl down, staring at him for a moment, but turning away before he could thank her.  
“Victor?”  
“Yes Mrs T?” he looked up.  
“Fowler would like Zac confined to his room for the day,” she informed him, “see to it, won’t you?”  
Zac’s eyebrows rose as he looked to Victor. The woman’s back was to him so he couldn’t see her expression.  
Victor locked eyes with him before nodding.  
“Sure,” he replied, “can I ask why?”  
“No,” she responded flatly before returning to the kitchen.  
Victor watched her go before turning his eyes back to Zac and giving him a condescending look. Zac just pulled a face and began to eat. Nigel had smugly ignored the entire exchange.  
When they were done the three of them took their bowls to the bar, Nigel soon disappearing through a far doorway. Victor took Zac by the shoulder and led him back to his room.  
“I take it I’ve pissed some people off already?” Zac guessed on the way.  
“Oh I don’t doubt it,” Victor replied hesitantly, glancing over his shoulder to check they were alone.  
“Other than Nigel,” Zac nodded to himself, “I repeat; so far so good.”  
Victor sighed as they got to Zac’s door, and he stood to wait as Zac made his own way in.  
“I’ll come and get you for dinner,” he assured.  
“Will I be allowed to have it?” Zac’s eyebrows rose as he took a seat on the bed.  
“They’re not gonna starve you,” Victor assured, “they still need you for hunting.”  
Zac nodded before clasping his hands and leaning forward.  
“Good enough reason I guess,” he relented.  
“It’s really eating at you, isn’t it?” Victor’s eyes narrowed making Zac frown, “the question of why you’re here. I know you don’t really think I know anything, but maybe Nigel’s right?”  
“I don’t think you don’t know anything,” Zac corrected, “but I definitely think everyone’s being cagey. And Mrs T’s reaction today has pretty much proven that there’s something more going on.”  
“You’re not supposed to be asking questions,” Victor pointed out, “you bombarded her. You probably scared her.”  
“She doesn’t seem the kind of woman to be easily frightened,” Zac considered.  
“And she isn’t,” Victor agreed, “but you were out of line. And when newbies come in and they step out of line, things happen.”  
Zac hesitated, then looked up again.  
“What kind of things?” he asked carefully.  
“Keep going and I’m sure you’ll find out,” Victor warned, before pulling the door closed behind him.


	64. 64

“I don’t get it,” Taylor admitted after some time, “is there something you want me to do for you? Did Seth encourage you to spend time down here?”  
Le Boucher sighed gruffly as if he were getting annoyed.  
“There is nothing I want you to do for me,” he responded, “and young Seth merely consented to my passage into this base.”  
He leant on his knee and struggled for a moment to pull himself to his feet.  
“But it appears that what I came to witness, I have already seen. I am glad you are doing well.”  
Taylor held back a smirk, wondering at his definition of ‘well’. Staying alive, he guessed.  
“I will speak with Connor when he comes home. I will see if I can do anything about lengthening your time on this Earth,” Le Boucher turned to leave.  
“Wait,” Taylor suddenly sat up straighter, “you don’t _want_ them to kill me?”  
Le Boucher paused, turning to look over his shoulder.  
“I am a… how would you say… a sentimentalist,” he tried to explain, “I do not believe that your spirit is ready for death.”  
Taylor frowned at that, suddenly feeling very aware of his mortality once again.  
“So, I will put in a word,” Le Boucher gave him a nod before turning to leave again.  
Taylor’s eyes followed him.  
“Thank… thank you!” he called after him as the door was closed.  
His hands went to his forehead as he heard the man’s footsteps heading back down the corridor. He wasn’t entirely sure that he hadn’t dreamed what had just happened.  
Before he moved again the guard had opened the door and thrown in another bread roll. Grateful for the momentary distraction he crawled forward to retrieve it, soon settling back into his corner to think the conversation over.  
Le Boucher had been there for an awfully long time. Either he was having some hardcore hallucinations – not completely unlikely considering the situation – or it really did happen.  
He broke the bread open and began to eat, staring across to his now-dusty jacket and shoes as he thought. It sounded like Connor was still in jail, so he had that grace at least. No one had said a word about Zac so far, but if things hadn’t gone as Seth planned… surely there would have been repercussions involving both he and Isaac by now. Maybe Zac had already been caught again.  
Or maybe he’d bought some time.  
He figured the guard knew about as much as he did, because he hadn’t left the entire time Taylor had been down there. They’d seen the same people, and Taylor had heard every word spoken outside his door (minus the lower tones of some).  
Having been lost in thought, he suddenly jumped when he realised he was looking into glassy eyes reflecting the orange light from the heater. Either the same rat – or another – had taken refuge under his jacket.  
With a glance toward the door he broke off a small piece of bread and leant forward slightly.  
“Hey,” he whispered to it.  
The eyes didn’t move. He absently hoped that it wasn’t already dead, but instinct told him it was well and truly still alive.  
He threw the piece of bread so that it landed about a foot his side of the jacket, then leant back to watch as he continued eating. It didn’t take long at all for the rat to smell its way out, retrieve the scrap, and hurriedly take it back under the jacket to eat.


	65. 65

“Kneel,” Hudson ordered, indicating a spot on the floor.  
Isaac made his way to it – still having trouble walking on his injured feet – and knelt as told. Hudson stepped around in front of him as he went through some paperwork on a clipboard.  
“There doesn’t seem to be any report from Krüger about emotional response and status,” he seemed to mutter to himself, “but I’ll assume a revision is in order considering the time that has passed.”  
Isaac held back a groan, knowing it would only make it worse. Hudson was about to continue when they heard the door open behind Isaac’s guard, and he looked up in surprise. Isaac didn’t dare turn around unless he was told to.  
“Oh good. I see I’m not interrupting anything,” came Seth’s voice as the door closed again.  
Isaac’s eyes closed as he cursed inside his head.  
“We were yet to begin,” Hudson turned the papers down as he regarded Seth curiously.  
“I see,” Isaac could hear Seth making his way closer, “I thought I should drop in and offer an alternative training program for 356 here.”  
Isaac’s eyes sprang open and hit the ground.   
“Alternative?” Hudson frowned, “am I doing something wrong?”  
“Lord no,” Seth assured, “I was thinking more of this one being a rare case. And if I’ve learnt anything by his brothers that can be used in a formal training setting, then I think that should be explored.”  
Isaac couldn’t help but clench his teeth at the reference to Taylor and Zac.  
“How do you mean?” Hudson tilted his head curiously.  
“I mean…” Seth stepped around into Isaac’s peripheral, “that what was proven to both test and break both 352 and 353, would most likely work on 356 as well.”  
“You have something like that?” Hudson’s eyebrows rose, “it would be very useful. Though he has shown unbridled obedience it has been…”  
“Too easy?” Seth suggested.  
Isaac grimaced at Hudson’s nod.  
“So he’s just been doing everything you ask without any sense of hostility or resentment?” Seth mused, stepping around beside Hudson so that he could look down at him, “I’m sure we can test some boundaries that will soon change that.”  
“Brilliant,” Hudson readied a pen to take notes on his clipboard, “how do you propose we move forward?”  
“I propose…” Seth couldn’t help but smile a little as he looked down on Isaac, “we have him kill someone.”  
Isaac’s eyes shot up.  
“Really, Seth?” Hudson frowned, “why would-?”  
“Analysing the surveillance footage from when this one foolishly tried to ‘rescue’ his brothers from Chadron, I noticed this one never once pulled the trigger,” Seth’s eyebrows rose, “he left it all up to Nate. Of course his brothers didn’t have the same reservations.”  
Isaac’s eyes darted between them, but he remained silent.  
“He seems to hold more regard for human life than the other two. Since Krüger had his way with them anyhow. And if that doesn’t break him in…” Seth seemed sure that it would, “I’d bring in some of the more well-trained girls to have their way with him.”


	66. 66

“I won’t kill anyone,” Isaac insisted.  
“There you have it,” Seth said pointedly, “the dissent you’ve been waiting for.”  
“Interesting,” Hudson eyed Isaac curiously, “I hadn’t thought to resort to such measures.”  
“Why bother?” Isaac frowned, “I haven’t done anything out of line. I’ve followed everything you’ve asked of me so far.”  
“Because you need to be broken,” Seth took a step forward making Isaac lean back, “like breaking in a wild horse. Just because he says you can trust him, it doesn’t mean you should.”  
He took a moment to glance at Hudson who’d begun writing notes.  
“You need to be able to prove to us that if any future master were to ask you to go so far as to rape someone, you will do it without question or forethought,” he added, “this will be a good test to make sure you’re on the right track.”  
“Anyone specific you’d like him to eliminate?” Hudson asked absently.  
“Not for his first,” Seth brushed off, “I’ll secure one of the failed trainees. He’ll even be doing them a favour.”  
Isaac’s eyes hit the ground again as he registered that it was already too late. They’d made up their minds.  
Maybe he’d get lucky and they’d hand him a gun.  
“I’ll find one on my way out,” Seth suddenly moved to leave, “we’ll be retrieving Connor tonight.”  
“Already?” Hudson looked up in surprise as Isaac cringed.  
“Yes, already,” Seth confirmed as he continued walking to the door, “I think he’s been there long enough, don’t you?”  
“Of course,” Hudson looked uncomfortable regardless.  
Which was standard for him, Isaac was sure.  
“Good luck!” Hudson called after him as Isaac heard the door open.  
“Luck will have nothing to do with it,” Seth muttered, closing the door behind him.  
Isaac waited as an awkward moment of silence followed, filled only with Hudson continuing his paperwork.  
“I guess we’ll be putting our sessions on hold for now,” he finally broke it as he finished up.  
“Am I really going to have to kill someone?” Isaac’s brow furrowed.  
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Hudson stepped aside, “the life you’ll be taking won’t have meant much to begin with. They are failures. Much like euthanizing a stray animal.”  
Isaac rubbed his eyes, trying not to panic straight off the bat.  
“Guard? Return him,” Hudson ordered.  
Isaac heard the man stepping forward and waited until he was tapped on the shoulder before getting to his feet.  
“We’ll resume training first thing in the morning, once we have Seth’s clearance,” Hudson nodded to him, “good day Isaac.”  
Isaac waited until Hudson had turned away before rolling his eyes. With a slight limp he followed the guard back toward his cell where he was abruptly locked in again.   
As soon as the guard’s footsteps left Isaac’s hearing range, he turned and hit the door with his fist. Not expecting the door to be so solid he immediately had to cradle his hand afterward.  
“Dammit,” he cursed, falling back into a sit on the bed.  
Having to take a life was among the last things he’d expected to have to do here.


	67. 67

Zac looked up from where he lay on the bed as he heard the bar being moved away from the door. Assuming it would be Victor he sat up ready to go outside for dinner.  
When the door opened and he saw Victor already with the bowl, he frowned.  
“Not being let out, huh?” he guessed.  
“Nope,” Victor confirmed, walking in and setting the bowl on top of the drawers.  
“And nothing else about why?”  
“Nope.”  
Zac sighed, before standing to retrieve the bowl.  
“You know… if you guys are planning to keep me locked up for any length of time, the least you could do is give me a sketch pad.”  
Victor frowned, and turned to him curiously.  
“You know, so I can draw,” Zac emphasised, “or write, or whatever.”  
“Why?” Victor shrugged.  
“So I don’t go stir crazy?” Zac suggested, “so I don’t spend my time sitting here thinking of fifty different ways to separate Nigel’s head from his body while I’m bored?”  
“Fifty ways?” Victor smirked.  
“It might have been more than that, I lost count,” Zac shrugged as he took the bowl back to the bed, “but the point stands. I need something to do, to stop me doing… other stuff. And you can take that to Fowler. I’m not the same guy he had last time and you know that.”  
“I know it,” Victor assured, “but I don’t think Fowler’s really in the need to know.”  
“Why’s that?” Zac asked, mouth full.  
“Fowler’s very particular,” Victor tried to explain, checking over his shoulder again, “think of it as OCD. He likes his castle run a certain way, and that’s it. No question, no deviation, and definitely no mutiny. I’ll see what I can do about the sketch pad, but I won’t go through him.”  
“Thanks,” Zac nodded, figuring that was the best he’d get.  
Seeing that Zac was focused on his food for now, Victor sighed and turned to leave.  
“Bring the bowl out in the morning,” he said over his shoulder before closing the door.  
Zac grunted in response as it was shut and the bar replaced across it.  
It didn’t take long for Zac to finish the stew. He didn’t get much to begin with, but it was certainly enough to keep him going. He set the bowl back beside the candle, leaning further to blow it out before settling back onto the bed. He might as well get some sleep.  
Surprised that he actually had, he awoke presumably a few hours later to a noise outside the door. Looking up from the bed but unable to see anything with both the candle and kitchen lights out, he barely made out the sound of footsteps walking away from his door.  
Curiosity peaked, he sat up and felt for the matches he used for his candle. Quickly lighting it and taking a moment to adjust his eyes, he slipped out of bed and over to the door.  
It looked like a piece of paper had been barely pushed under – a small corner showing on his side.  
Still not quite awake he tried to open the door. It was still held fast by the beam. With a grunt he dropped to his knees to fetch the paper instead.  
As his fingers made to grab it, he realised it was more than a piece of paper.   
It was the sketch pad he’d asked for.  
He barely managed to get a grip on it and pull it back into his room. The pages were lined, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t help but grin to himself when he saw that it came with both pen and pencil.


	68. 68

Taylor’s eyes slid open as the heater clicked. He knew he’d have to turn it off again soon.  
As he pulled himself up from his side with a groan, he paused with his hand on his forehead as he registered a dark shape on the floor.  
The rat was back. And it was just sitting there staring at him expectantly.  
“Sorry little guy,” Taylor said softly, “I don’t have anything else for you.”  
The rat didn’t move, just sniffled a little around the dirt where it sat and occasionally threw Taylor another glance.  
Taylor lay back down onto his side, barely having the energy to move at all. The rat explored a little more before the sound of footsteps drove it back under the jacket.  
Taylor closed his eyes, not bothering to even look up to see who it was. After Le Boucher’s surprise visit, he wasn’t sure he cared anymore.   
That was, until he heard Seth’s voice outside.  
His eyes sprang open and he pulled himself up as the door was unlocked, quickly moving the chains so he could both sit up properly and have quick access to the stakes still buried by the wall.  
Seth stepped through, eyeing Taylor with a smirk.  
“Good morning,” he greeted, standing aside.  
Taylor’s eyes darted to the door when he realised Seth wasn’t alone. The man that followed him through was a lot taller than Seth, wearing a woollen coat and scarf.  
They had very similar facial features.  
He knew without a doubt that it was Connor Creed.  
“So this is Taylor Hanson?” Connor gave Seth a glance as he came further inside, “he’s very dirty.”  
“He’s been here a while,” Seth dug in a coat pocket for a flashlight, soon turning it on and shining it into Taylor’s face.  
He flinched but held back from trying to shield his eyes. He needed his hands to be ready.  
“How long?” Connor asked.  
“Almost a week.”  
Taylor’s eyes darted between their feet, waiting for one of them to move. He barely registered what they were saying but he wasn’t at all surprised by the time that had passed.  
When Connor took another step forward he flinched back again, this time hitting the wall with a clatter of metal. Connor came to rest a few feet in front of him as Seth stepped to the side so he didn’t block the light.  
“Eyes up, Taylor.”  
Taylor grit his teeth – mainly to stop them chattering as he shook – but managed to lift his eyes to the dark shape above him. He could barely make out the man’s eyes in the shadow.  
“At least he does as he’s told,” Connor mused.  
“Don’t get too used to it,” Seth insisted, “his true colours will shine eventually.”  
Taylor looked towards Seth’s voice, prompting Connor to snap his fingers to regain his attention.  
“Why did you kill Ryan?” he asked in a simple tone.  
Taylor’s face lost any colour it had left. He had no idea how he was supposed to answer that. They certainly didn’t want the truth.  
“I’m sorry,” his head started shaking, “I am so, _so_ sorry-“  
“No,” Connor cut him off by holding up a finger, “I don’t believe you are. But you soon will be.”  
Taylor looked to the side to see the smirk back on Seth’s face.


	69. 69

“I swear,” Taylor insisted, “I have never killed _anyone_ before. It didn’t matter who he was, I’ll regret it as long as I live!”  
“There are a few things wrong with that statement,” Connor considered, stepping back to pace as Seth simply watched on with interest.  
“First and most importantly… ‘it didn’t matter who he was’?”  
Taylor clenched his fists and hung his head. They had to know he hadn’t meant it like that.  
“You do know that Ryan was a widely revered and respected figurehead among not just the household, but our entire community as a whole,” Connor’s eyes narrowed as he spoke.  
“Yes Sir,” Taylor didn’t bother looking up.  
“How would you feel, Taylor, if we happened to go after your father in a similar fashion?”  
“We do have his older brother in custody,” Seth cut in before Taylor could react, “he’s currently training under Hudson in Wausau.”  
Taylor immediately tried to distract himself by committing the name to memory.  
“Why isn’t he here?” Connor frowned at his brother.  
“Because there is already plenty of interest in him on a commercial level,” Seth defended, “he is to go through training and be sent to auction as soon as possible.”  
“And you never thought to use him as a lesson to this one?”  
“Of course I did,” Seth scorned, “but we needed the both of them alive to appease Fowler!”  
“Don’t raise your voice to me,” Connor said calmly, making Seth grit his teeth, “what do they have to do with Fowler?”  
“The younger of the three is Fowler’s latest charge,” Seth explained, “I was sure you knew that.”  
“Oh yes…” Connor drawled, turning back to Taylor who still had his eyes down, “353. I’ve been so caught up in the stories I’ve heard I’ve gotten used to a first-name basis.”  
He paused, staring downward again. Taylor felt his gaze burning into his crown.  
“Where is the dear Natalie now?” his voice suddenly dripped with intent, “I take it she’s no longer in Tulsa.”  
Taylor clenched his teeth, trying not to let Connor get to him already. She was safe, that was all that mattered. There’d be no way they could-  
“I believe she’s at the Pentagon with the rest of them. And the little brats,” came Seth’s voice, “we certainly managed to coax Taylor outside. It shouldn’t be too hard if you want to do the same.”  
“She’s not as stupid as I am,” Taylor finally couldn’t help himself, “you’ll have to tear the place to the ground to get anywhere near them.”  
“And we might just do that,” Connor watched his reaction with interest, “I’d certainly like to catch up with her myself. A lovely young lady, and mother.”  
Taylor knew they were just taunting him. But it was working. He didn’t have the strength to force himself to think reasonably.  
“There’s nothing I can do to stop you,” he said, hoping they would take it as defeat and move on.  
“No there isn’t,” Connor agreed, “but if you’re lucky we may even let you see her one last time before she dies.”  
“I’m anything but lucky,” Taylor couldn’t help but smirk, wondering at his wording.  
“This is true,” Seth agreed, “though if it weren’t for Nate still being on the prowl you’d be well and truly dead by now.”  
Taylor grimaced at that. It was his first confirmation that Zac was back in their custody.


	70. 70

“What is the status of Nathan?” Connor turned to Seth.  
“At large, part two,” Seth’s eyebrows rose, “we heard word he was hanging around Washington while Taylor was at the Pentagon, and now that he’s here Nate’s gone off the radar once again.”  
“Have you tried anything to coax him out?”  
“Yes,” Seth assured, “I’ve been informed he is getting the communications we send him.”  
Taylor looked up again at that. It meant Nate had seen the torture video.  
“So then why is this taking so long?” Connor seemed more disappointed than aggravated, “surely you could follow the grapevine and find him yourself?”  
“I could, that’s true,” Seth reasoned, “but I’d be putting other communications into jeopardy as I did so. It’s not worth the risk.”  
“How about you let me decide what’s worth the risk from now on?” Connor suggested, finally stepping away from Taylor as his attention centred on Seth, “and I say it’s worth it to bring Nathan in.”  
Taylor looked between them, catching Seth’s eye.   
“I take it you know he had a hand in Ryan’s death then,” Seth’s eyes lowered as if he expected to be reprimanded.  
“I did see the footage, yes,” Connor admitted.  
There was a slight pause, before Connor turned back to Taylor. They locked eyes again.  
“Go and fetch his brother too,” Connor said decidedly, “if for nothing else I’m sure Hudson won’t mind a slight dent in the schedule.”  
Seth just sighed impatiently.  
“Why?” he asked between his teeth.  
“If the other one is out of reach, it’ll be better than nothing,” Connor took a quick look around the cell before turning to leave.  
“That’s it?” Seth watched after him incredulously as Taylor began to breathe a bit easier with Connor out of the room, “what about this one?”  
Seth followed his brother out, stopping in the doorway as he indicated Taylor.  
“Leave him,” Connor insisted, “I’ll spend some time with him later when I have everything back in order. It’s only been a year and I swear this place has gone to the dogs.”  
Seth gave Taylor one last glance before closing the door behind him and following his brother away.  
“But you are going to kill him, right?”  
“Of course, but not yet. Not for some time. There needs to be a little… retribution before we can really move on.”  
“And how long will that take, exactly?”  
That was the last Taylor heard as their voices faded away.  
He let his legs slide out from under him again before quickly reaching down to where he’d buried the stakes. Brushing the dirt aside he came across the top one, quickly replacing it once he’d confirmed its position.  
He tried not to think about Isaac and what they might do to him. It sounded as if Connor was willing to return him to the training program once they were done, so at least they couldn’t maim him or the like.  
Maybe they just wanted to scare him. It wouldn’t be the first time.  
With a groan he held his stomach and leant back against the wall again.


	71. 71

Isaac spent all night dreading the following morning, and he barely got any sleep because of it.  
Breakfast came soon after the sun came up, and it was a while after that before the guard came to open his door.  
He was led back to the training room where Hudson was pacing somewhat nervously. Behind him, chained to the side wall, was a man younger than Isaac with a bushy beard. Isaac wasn’t sure if he were even conscious.  
“Good morning Isaac,” Hudson greeted, snapping his fingers and indicating a spot on the floor.  
Isaac didn’t hesitate in making his way to the spot and kneeling.  
“This is 385. He will be your project for this morning,” Hudson introduced, indicating the man hanging in chains.  
“Project?” Isaac frowned, resenting the term already.  
“Assignment. Duty of care. Whatever,” Hudson brushed over.  
He made his way to the side bench and unfolded what looked like a set of chef knives. Isaac grimaced when he saw them, knowing the guard behind him was easily armed with an AK-47.   
He wasn’t going to be able to use them to fight back.  
Hudson selected a middle-range knife with a drop-point blade and made his way to Isaac’s side.   
“I will show you what to do,” he explained, “and then it is up to you to comply. Are you aware of where the jugular sits in ones’ throat?”  
“No,” Isaac lied, hoping it would buy some time.  
“Tilt your head forward,” Hudson instructed, moving closer.  
Isaac did so, forcing himself to keep his hands in his lap as Hudson placed his left hand on Isaac’s head and spun the blade in his right so that the blunt edge was facing Isaac’s direction.  
With his pointer finger he traced the side of Isaac’s throat.  
“By lowering your head you expose the vein here,” Hudson explained, softly placing the edge of the knife against his skin, “one quick movement-“  
Isaac flinched as he sharply pulled downward before stepping back.  
“-And that’s all there is to it.”  
Isaac looked up to see Hudson holding the blade of the knife, the handle out toward him.  
“Shouldn’t I practice on an animal first?” he suggested.  
“Why bother?” the honest curiosity in Hudson made Isaac shiver involuntarily.  
“In case it doesn’t work?” his eyebrows rose, “what if I don’t do enough damage?”  
“I’m sure you will,” Hudson assured, indicating for Isaac to take the knife from him.  
Isaac grimaced again, but finally took hold of the handle.  
“Stand up,” Hudson instructed, “follow me.”  
Isaac pulled himself to his feet, eyeing Hudson’s back as he led him over to the chained man. Regardless of the guard watching his every move, it was still so tempting to take Hudson out then and there.  
At least they’d be down another trainer.  
Hudson slid a hand into his suit pocket and pulled out some latex gloves, quickly slipping them on before taking the young man by the hair and exposing his neck. With a pointed look at Isaac, he lowered his head to expose the vein.  
“Place your blade here,” Hudson indicated, as Isaac took note the man didn’t even open his eyes.  
He gingerly stepped forward and raised the blade, jumping as Hudson’s phone suddenly rang.


	72. 72

Hudson had jumped as well. He quickly apologised and took a step back, Isaac thankfully lowering the knife again while he was distracted.  
Hudson fumbled with the phone for a moment before finally answering the call.  
“Seth,” he greeted, “I just began the aforementioned training session with 356.”  
Isaac’s interest was piqued already.  
“I’m sorry, you what?”  
Isaac looked back to the hairy prisoner when he suddenly moved his head. Not enough to make him jump, but enough to prove that he was conscious.  
“How soon will you be here?”  
Isaac stepped closer to the man while Hudson had his back turned, careful to keep the knife behind him and out of view. There was a good chance the man didn’t even know what was happening.  
“I understand. However this will be quite an interruption to the process. There may not be much point in continuing today’s efforts. May I suggest… sorry?”  
“Hey,” Isaac whispered softly, seeing if he could get the man’s attention.  
There was no response, so Isaac checked over his shoulder for where the guard was watching before moving closer.  
“Hey,” he repeated a little louder this time, “are you awake?”  
There was a short grunt in reply. Isaac shot Hudson a glance.  
“What’s your name?” he tried again, hoping at the very least that if he ever made it out of there he could identify him.  
He watched on as the man struggled to open his eyes. Isaac could see that his pupils were dilated and unresponsive.  
“So should I continue 356’s training today or not?”  
“Kill me,” Isaac heard a choked whisper.  
He stole another glance at Hudson before reaching over to hold the man’s chin up a little. His eyes opened again but failed to focus.  
“What?” he breathed.  
“Kill me,” the man repeated, “please?”  
“I don’t want to,” Isaac frowned, already having flashbacks to Taylor in the cabin and making himself gulp.  
“Please,” the man pleaded again, his eyes closing tiredly.  
Isaac jumped as he heard Hudson clearing his throat behind him. He turned to see that he’d finished his call with Seth, and Isaac hurriedly took a step back.  
“Something has come up,” Hudson spoke more to the guard than to Isaac, “have 356 ready for transport by sundown.”  
“Transport?” Isaac frowned, more to himself but accidentally aloud.  
“Seth requires your presence in lieu of your training,” Hudson didn’t seem pleased but was relenting Isaac’s slip up anyhow, “it seems Connor would like to meet you.”  
“Connor?” Isaac was immediately on guard, his hand automatically tightening on the handle of the blade, “he’s out of jail.”  
“Hand me the knife, Isaac,” Hudson held out his hand.  
Isaac gladly handed it over. Hudson turned to replace it before signalling the guard.  
“We’ll continue your training once you return,” he assured, packing the knives away.


	73. 73

“Hey Vic,” Zac nodded to him once Nigel had disappeared inside the cabin.  
The two were loading the day’s catch into the slaughter shed. Victor cast a glance to where Nigel had gone before nodding back.  
“I didn’t get a chance this morning, but I meant to thank you,” Zac said softly in case they could still be heard.  
“For what?” Victor asked, throwing a rabbit inside.  
“For the pad,” Zac added, wondering what else he had to thank him for, “the sketch pad?”  
Victor froze, leaning over the sled. After a moment he stood up straight, giving Zac an odd look.  
“What sketch pad?” he asked.  
Zac returned the frown.  
“The one you snuck under the door of my room in the middle of the night?” Zac clarified, confused.  
Victor looked up to the cabin again almost nervously.   
“Zac I never did such a thing,” he assured.  
“Why lie about it?” Zac frowned, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone, “did you steal it from somewhere?”  
“Zac I swear,” Victor insisted with a slightly worried look, “I don’t have access to anything like that. All the paperwork is in Fowler’s office and I don’t have clearance for that area. Not to say I wouldn’t have tried, but there’s no way I _could_ have done it for you. Not this soon. I was actually going to ask Mrs T in a few days if she’d warmed up to you again by then.”  
Zac’s expression slowly drifted from confusion to concern.  
“You’re the only one I asked,” he insisted, “no one else would even know it was something I wanted.”  
Victor shrugged.  
“Thin walls maybe?” he suggested, “we should be more careful what we say to each other around here.”  
He grabbed another rabbit and threw it into the shed before closing the door.  
“There was no one around,” Zac’s voice lowered again, “Mrs T was in the kitchen and Nigel had gone… wherever he goes. And Nigel certainly doesn’t strike me as someone who would do that.”  
“Mrs T definitely wasn’t happy with you, so it wouldn’t have been her,” Victor considered, “as far as I know the only other person even here is Fowler. It definitely couldn’t have been him, so… I don’t know. Maybe Nigel was feeling guilty for something?”  
“Has he ever done anything like that for you?” Zac frowned again.  
“Nothing so obvious,” Victor pulled a face as he tried to think, “and nothing more than a general pat on the back. Let’s face it, there’s not much you could want for out here.”  
“Hey!”  
Both men turned to see Nigel standing on the back patio.  
“Get your asses in here before the food gets cold and Mrs T hits her rags,” he scorned, disappearing again.  
“Gross,” Zac grimaced, pushing the sled aside into a small alcove.  
Victor smirked as he came to unlock the chain from Zac’s collar.  
“As you can tell, he’s not really the kind of person to do more than that anyhow,” he pointed out, “but either she told him to do that or that was a step toward civility on its own.”  
“I get what you mean,” Zac frowned, watching after him as he thought it over.


	74. 74

“Why is there five locks?” Taylor asked absently, “it seems a bit over the top.”  
He was trying to talk loud enough to cover what he was doing, and hoping the guard would be distracted with replying. He’d dug one of the stakes out of the ground and was trying to figure out how much damage he’d have to do to the padlocks to actually break them.  
“Prisoners can often do without one or two limbs if they’re desperate enough,” came the guard’s response, “but chewing through all four and your own neck is a bit hard.”  
Taylor paused.  
“Wow,” he frowned, “that’s… comforting.”  
The guard smirked.   
“When weeks turn into months down here people tend to start doing some crazy stuff. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen some of them do to themselves.”  
“Oh I’m sure I would,” Taylor muttered under his breath, trying to force the point of one of the stakes into the lock on his left ankle.  
“What about you?” he asked louder, “you have to be going stir crazy, surely.”  
“I have an iPad,” he revealed, “but I need to talk them into getting a cord down here.”  
“Wouldn’t that be well and truly flat by now?” Taylor smirked.  
“I only got it yesterday.”  
“Still,” Taylor mused, “I would have had that thing dead within… however long the battery lasts. A few hours max?”  
“There’s also not much in the way of games on here.”  
Taylor shrugged to himself before getting back to the padlock.  
“It’d be better than drawing in the dirt though, right?”  
Another smirk in reply before Taylor heard a short bang come from down the corridor. It sounded like the door at the top of the stairs slamming, which alone was hard to hear from down his end.  
“Who’s there?” Taylor asked, not really expecting a reply.  
None came, but the guard didn’t bother to move either.  
“You want to keep it down up there?” he heard his voice.  
No audible response came before Taylor heard the door opening. He couldn’t see who it was until they came in, but he quickly hid the stake again regardless.  
It was Kadie.  
“Hey you,” she greeted, aiming another bottle of water for him.  
Taylor quickly caught it and immediately had another drink as she closed the door behind her. He’d run out of water from the first bottle maybe two days earlier, and even that had been stretched.  
He was already surprised he wasn’t as sick as when Nate had had him in Reynosa.  
Kadie took a seat beside him again to wait for him to finish. He downed about half before stopping for a breather.  
“So what, I get two of these a week?” he coughed out, replacing the cap.  
“Don’t get snarky,” she insisted, “you’re lucky they authorise it at all. Seth’s quite happy for you to dwindle away down here.”  
“I wasn’t,” Taylor frowned, “and I know. But I thought it was your job to make sure I didn’t?”  
“When I can,” Kadie shrugged, “you’re not my only priority.”  
“So… whether I live or die depends on your priorities,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed.  
“And Seth’s,” Kadie added, staring uncomfortably at Taylor’s right foot.


	75. 75

“Problem?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose.  
“What happened?” Kadie frowned, eyes not wavering.  
“Seth happened,” he replied, trying to keep the snark out of his voice, “he made a home video for Nate. He told me himself that he’s only keeping me alive until they catch him.”  
“When did he say that?”  
“Most recently? This morning.”  
Kadie’s jaw jutted, and Taylor could tell she wasn’t happy about it.  
“I’m sorry, but I told you so,” he pointed out.  
“The fat lady hasn’t sung yet,” she insisted, “I’ll have a talk to him and see what I can do.”  
“You’ll have a ‘talk’ with him?” Taylor smirked, “are we talking about the same Seth?”  
“You know for a slave, you really do still have an attitude,” Kadie mused, tilting her head as she regarded him.  
He just narrowed his eyes at her.  
“But that’s okay,” she assured, “it’ll make things fun!”  
“Kadie, I’m not going to be your slave,” Taylor insisted, “and frankly I don’t see why you’d even want me. Like I said, my masters don’t have a great track record for staying alive.”  
“Neither do you,” she mused.  
Taylor paused at that, before turning his attention to where his jacket lay. He was sure the rat was still hiding under it.  
“Seth’s not going to change his mind,” he insisted, “especially not with Connor back on board. Connor has some revenge to dish out, and not even Seth can stop him doing that.”  
“Has he spoken to you already?” Kadie finally seemed concerned.  
“This morning,” Taylor’s eyes rose to the door, “he’s already threatened my wife and he’s planning to bring my brother here to do God knows what.”  
Taylor cut himself off and rubbed his face, trying not to think about it too much.   
“Your brother?” Kadie jumped on, “which one?”  
Taylor took a deep breath and sighed.  
“Isaac,” he relented, “why?”  
“Just curious,” Kadie shrugged, “I wonder why they’d bring him here…”  
“Because I killed their older brother,” Taylor scorned, “so they’re going to do something to mine to pay me back. What, I don’t know, because it sounds like they still want to sell him.”  
“Isaac hasn’t been sold yet?” Kadie almost smirked, “that’s unusual.”  
“He’s only been in training as long as I’ve been here,” Taylor looked up to the door when he heard the guard start talking.  
“A week?” Kadie frowned, “but what about-“  
She cut off as the guard suddenly opened the door.   
“What?” she demanded, a moment before Connor stepped into the light.  
Taylor’s eyes shot to her as she rushed to get to her feet and brush herself off. He kept his face expressionless like a pro, but he couldn’t help but smirk internally. She was definitely afraid of him.  
“I’d like some time alone with Taylor, if you don’t mind,” Connor said pointedly, entering the cell and standing aside the door.  
“Sure,” she nodded, giving Taylor one last glance before practically fleeing.  
The guard closed the door behind her as Taylor quickly hid the water bottle behind him.


	76. 76

“She seems to have taken a shine to you,” Connor mused, moving further into the cell.  
“You have no idea,” Taylor barely got out, already wondering what he could possibly want.  
“I believe I would,” Connor considered, “you did meet young Kathryn at some point, didn’t you?”  
“I did,” Taylor tried not to wince.  
“A shame what happened to her. She really was a lovely young girl at one stage,” Connor moved over to turn the heater off.  
Taylor’s eyes followed him as he digested the man’s words.  
“What happened to her?” he repeated, suddenly feeling on guard.  
Connor sighed as he stood up again, looking down at Taylor’s jacket.  
“I believe she died in Chadron. Something to do with the army or some such,” he shrugged before turning around, “I heard she did something to upset Seth and he left her behind in the evacuation.”  
Taylor froze. He remembered well seeing the news report for the first time about it, and dreading that Kadie may have still been in there.  
“Kathryn’s dead?” he had to clarify.  
“Yes…” Connor trailed off.  
He paused before taking a few steps closer. Taylor shifted backward still unsure of what he might do.  
“So you did meet her,” he confirmed.  
“Yes Sir,” Taylor had his eyes on Connor’s feet.  
“Would you happen to be the reason she’s dead?” Connor asked almost innocently.  
When Taylor didn’t respond, he snapped his fingers to gain his attention. Taylor’s eyes met his.  
“Probably,” he finally returned, “I tricked her. Seth wasn’t happy about it.”  
He hesitated before lowering his eyes again.  
“And I seem to have a habit of getting people killed,” his voice broke, making him cringe.  
“There is that,” Connor agreed, pacing a little, “or so I’ve heard. You do tend to leave a trail of cadavers in your wake.”  
“I don’t mean to,” Taylor insisted, shaking his head and internally begging his eyes not to water.  
“And yet you yourself are still here,” Connor took note of his reaction and used the moment to settle into a crouch just in front of him, “why is that?”  
“How can I answer that?” his voice broke again.  
“Try,” Connor insisted.  
The tone of his voice implied it as an order. Taylor could physically feel his shoulders receding.  
“I don’t know,” he almost whispered, “I was ready, I swear. In Paris the Butcher talked me down and I was ready to go, and I fell asleep just like he said I would. But then I woke up and I could hear voices, and I looked over and I saw Ryan pointing a gun at Zac and Nate… There was a gun on the table and for some reason my hands were free. I could barely even pick it up but somehow I did, and I aimed it for Ryan…”  
He stopped to take a breath, not even realising how fast he was rattling it off.  
“I was ready, I don’t know why I came back,” his brow furrowed, “and I remember how it felt. I remember the last time Nate had me and he went on a frenzy and I almost died then. I remember not being afraid. I just felt this sense of calm, like I knew it was going to happen and I couldn’t stop it anyway so why bother caring? And even though I know it’s going to happen this time, for some reason I don’t feel that way anymore.”  
Connor just gave him a curious look, seemingly inviting him to go on. Taylor diverted his eyes.


	77. 77

“I was at a point where I was tired enough that I was willing to give up everything,” Taylor shook his head.  
“And you don’t feel that way now?” Connor pressed.  
“No,” Taylor shook his head, finally making eye contact again, “I’m terrified. _Again_. I can’t seem to not care anymore. I don’t know if it’s the isolation playing with my mind or if it’s just Seth’s influence or maybe…”  
He cut himself off before he could finish the thought, but Connor caught his expression.  
“Maybe… what?” he softly demanded.  
“Maybe…” Taylor had trouble bringing himself to say it, “maybe I deserve it this time.”  
His eyes fell to the floor, so he didn’t see the small smile play on Connor’s lips.  
“I’m sure we’ll have you back in the correct mindset in no time,” he seemed to reassure.  
Taylor closed his eyes, knowing what that meant. It wasn’t reassuring at all.  
“In the meantime, what punishment would you deem appropriate for what you’ve done?” Connor asked.  
“Which part?” Taylor asked without opening his eyes.  
“All of it,” Connor replied after a slight hesitation.  
Taylor bit his lip before opening his eyes again. He kept them down hoping Connor wouldn’t see the stubborn tears forming.  
“I’ll take whatever you want to dish out,” he replied softly, “and I’ll take it as justified.”  
“Will you now?” Connor mused.  
“Yes Sir,” Taylor assured, without any force in his voice at all.  
Connor paused, before leaning forward slightly.  
“Are you absolutely certain of that?” he queried.  
Taylor pulled his arms in to his chest, the chains rattling as he tried to hug himself.  
“Yes,” he confirmed, “and otherwise it’s not really my place to say. It’s entirely up to you what happens to me.”  
He resisted the urge to look up when he heard footsteps in the corridor again.  
“Spoken like a true slave. I appreciate that,” Connor assured, “your Master will be pleased.”  
He leant on his knees in order to stand.  
“Seth’s not my-“ Taylor cut himself off with a frown.  
His eyes darted up to Connor’s. When he got nothing from them, he gulped slightly.  
“Oh God,” his eyes fell again, knowing already what he’d meant.  
The door suddenly opened and Connor turned to the interruption.  
“What is it?” he demanded.  
“We have an urgent call for you Sir. You’re going to want to take this,” came Jerry’s voice.  
Taylor covered his face with his hands as he tried to come to terms with what just happened. There was a pause before Connor replied.  
“I’ll be up in a moment,” he promised, prompting Jerry to take his leave.  
Connor turned back to Taylor in time for Taylor to look up at him again.  
“I will return to discuss this further later today,” he promised, “until then I’ll see to getting you something substantial to eat. You’re awfully skinny.”  
Taylor blanched a little at the scornful look he got before Connor turned to leave, closing the door behind him. It wasn’t as if he could help that…


	78. 78

The next time Isaac checked through the window, it seemed to be about mid-afternoon judging by the angle of the sun. It would be another couple of hours before he was fed, but he knew he might not see anything tonight if he was being ‘transported’.  
He sighed and stepped back over to the bed about to sit down again when he paused at the sound of footsteps. He waited to see if they were coming for him, and turned back when they stopped at his door.  
It opened and his escort appeared with a binder.  
“Let’s go,” he announced.  
Isaac held back an audible groan as he turned his back and held out his arms. The guard slipped the binder on and began to fasten the buckles.  
He hadn’t worn it since he’d been brought in, and it wasn’t any more comfortable than it was then.  
Once the buckles were done, the guard took hold of the ring at the top and led Isaac out of the cell. He took him down the corridor and out into the courtyard where Hudson was checking his wristwatch.  
“Seth should have checked in by now,” he looked to the guard before leading them to a waiting transport van.  
Isaac looked across to the gates, seeing that they were still chained. Hudson opened the back door of the van, retrieving some familiar looking black cloths.  
“When’s he due?” the guard asked.  
“Two hours, but he should have called from Chicago,” Hudson spun one of the cloths in his hands and swiftly gagged Isaac.  
“He probably forgot, you know Seth,” the guard reassured, jumping up into the van.  
He made his way to the back and fumbled with some chain. Once Hudson had finished he indicated for Isaac to follow him up, and he did so without hesitation.  
It looked like he’d be spending some quality time in the van again.  
Once he’d taken a seat the guard attached a simple clip on the end of a chain to Isaac’s collar, not worried about Isaac unclipping it due to the binder. Hudson soon followed him, readying a hood.  
Hudson was about to place it over Isaac’s head when they suddenly heard shouting. Hudson froze, locking eyes with the guard.  
“I’ll go check it out,” the guard offered, pulling his gun from his shoulder.  
Hudson watched after him as he jumped down from the back of the van and disappeared. Not a moment later, they suddenly heard gunfire.  
Hudson darted forward and pulled the van doors closed. Isaac shifted himself away from the side of the van, knowing that if bullets came through they’d probably hit him regardless.  
Hudson pulled out his cell phone and frantically dialled. As the gunfire and shouting drew closer, he cursed when his call didn’t go through.  
He tried calling someone else and held the phone to his ear.  
By the time the call went through Isaac could hear boots running through the courtyard.  
“Yes this is Hudson,” he said softly, “I need to speak with Connor immediately.”  
Isaac planted his eyes on the van doors when he heard closer footfalls.   
“Tell him Wausau is under attack,” Hudson whispered before the doors suddenly opened.  
Isaac’s eyes widened.  
“OUT OF THE VAN!” Devon ordered, gun trained on Hudson.


	79. 79

Hudson slowly raised his hands, leaving the call connected as he did so.  
“Drop the phone!” Devon ordered, indicating with his gun.  
Isaac tried to protest but Hudson had already let the phone slip from his hand. The next thing he did was stamp on it as hard as he could, destroying the entire system.  
“Get out!” Devon demanded, another two soldiers appearing behind him and one opening the other side of the door.  
Hudson hesitated, but moved out. Once his feet hit the ground and the other two detained him, Devon radioed in as he climbed inside.  
“Devon with eyes on Hanson, Isaac,” he reported, scooting to a knee beside him and pulling down his gag.  
“Are you hurt?” he asked.  
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Isaac assured, “Devon he was on the phone to Connor.”  
Devon unclipped the chain before looking back at the phone. Hudson had made good work of it in his panic, but he leant over to check it all the same.  
“ _Status_?” came a crackle through his radio.  
“In one piece,” he replied absently as he picked up the broken pieces.  
Isaac managed to shift himself forward a little so that he could see.  
“Can you get anything from it?” he asked hopefully.  
“We’ll put the tech team on it, but it’ll have to wait,” Devon assured before signalling to a waiting soldier, “get forensics in here now. We need to move out.”  
“What’s wrong?” Isaac frowned when he sensed the urgency in his voice.  
When Devon turned back, he quickly began to unbuckle the binder.  
“This needs to be a quick in and out,” he insisted, “we don’t know if they’ve wired the place to blow like Chadron.”  
“I see your point,” Isaac reasoned, trying not to panic at the thought.  
Once Devon had a few of the top buckles undone he managed to slide the binder down Isaac’s arms. He took a second to stretch them out before Devon helped him out of the van.  
“There’s a chopper waiting to take you back to DC,” he said once they were out.  
Isaac took a quick look around the courtyard. The chain on the gate had been cut and there were soldiers scattered here and there. He didn’t recognise anyone else.  
“What about the rest of them?” he asked as Devon took his shoulder to lead him through the gate.  
“The trucks will take them,” Devon assured, “we need to get you out of here.”  
Isaac held back asking anything else until they were out of the complex. He hadn’t heard a helicopter coming in, so he wasn’t surprised when Devon took him to an armoured car just outside the gates which in turn drove them both to a nearby field.  
Devon kept busy on the radio both relaying what he was doing and giving further orders out. Isaac took note that he was keeping a careful tab on exactly where in the building the soldiers were at any given time, and making sure that they moved on as soon as possible.  
By the time they got to the field where the helicopter sat waiting there’d been a confirmed five prisoners and four guards retrieved, along with Hudson and multiple casualties.  
“Copy that. Get out of there and send in the bomb squad,” Devon ordered, “I’m going offline.”  
Once he received confirmation he led Isaac out of the car and to the helicopter. They were soon off the ground and heading back for the Pentagon.


	80. 80

“So how did you find me?” Isaac shouted over the noise once they were airborne.  
“Long story short?” Devon looked across at him, “we picked up Seth.”  
“Seth? You’re kidding!” Isaac frowned, the yelling already hurting his throat.  
“I’m not!” Devon came back, “he was picked up by a toll booth operator in Chicago making his way here. His driver folded in interrogation and gave us the location.”  
Isaac took a moment to digest this. His frown only deepened.  
“So where’s Tay?!”  
Devon’s face fell.  
“We don’t know yet,” he replied, “Seth won’t talk, and his henchmen don’t seem to even know who Tay is.”  
“That’s bull!” Isaac scorned.  
“I know,” Devon shrugged, “let’s just say the interviews will carry on long into the night. Our priority was getting to this base before they could notice Seth missing and hopefully find at least one of you there.”  
“Where are we? Or where were we?”  
“Just north of Wausau,” Devon revealed, “not too many tracks in and out of the place.”  
“And where’s Zac?”  
Devon paused, then cleared his throat.  
“He’s in Alaska.”  
“Dammit,” Isaac cursed under his breath.  
“But don’t worry, we know exactly where he is,” Devon insisted.  
“How?!” Isaac demanded, “and why haven’t you got him back then?”  
“Don’t worry!” Devon reiterated, “we’ll pull him out as soon as we know Tay’s safe!”  
“Seth told me he was going to kill him,” Isaac insisted, “what makes you think he’s still alive now?!”  
“Because Seth’s pissed!” Devon couldn’t help but smile.  
Isaac hesitated at that, but shook his head.

*

Taylor was contemplating sleep when he heard footsteps returning. When the guard practically jumped to his feet, he knew it must have been Connor coming back.  
He didn’t bother to move as the door was unlocked and Connor made his way in.  
“It seems we have a bit of a problem,” he was obviously seething.  
Taylor was immediately on guard, sitting up straight again. He watched as Connor paced as if deciding what to do.  
“My brother was on his way to retrieve your brother,” he began – his voice shaky with withheld rage, “and it appears he was intercepted by our friends in the military.”  
Taylor’s eyes widened. Seth had been caught?  
“Adding to that, they somehow discovered where your brother was being held. So another base is now… at a loss.”  
“I swear,” Taylor shook his head, “we didn’t have anything to do with that. You have all three of us in custody! How could we have-?”  
“Silence!” Connor ordered, holding up his pointer finger in a way that reminded Taylor of Nate.  
He froze, staring up at him. Connor paused for a moment, then sighed.  
“You’re coming with me,” he said decidedly before turning to leave, “guard!”


	81. 81

Taylor’s eyes darted to the guard as he entered the cell.  
“Procure Taylor for transport to my quarters,” he ordered calmly.  
“In what way?” the guard seemed nervous to ask.  
Taylor gulped slightly, his eyes falling to his jacket again in the slight pause.  
“I’ll settle him once he gets there. Just get him there,” Connor said between his teeth before leaving the cell.  
The guard made his way to Taylor’s side as they heard his footsteps fade away.  
“What’s he gonna do?” Taylor asked worriedly, trying to keep his voice down, “what’s in his quarters? Am I paying for this?!”  
The guard hushed him as he pulled some keys from his belt and began unlocking Taylor’s ankles. Taylor’s eyes darted across to his jacket again.  
“Please… can I at least take my jacket with me?” he asked, brows furrowed.  
“You won’t need it where you’re going,” the guard assured, unlocking the second ankle.  
“Oh God,” Taylor cringed again, rolling his head back and closing his eyes.  
He felt the guard unlock his wrists, before his eyes opened when he realised he was moving the chains.  
The chains slid apart, and the guard unlocked the part holding them to the wall. He was left wearing the collar with a long chain attached.  
“On your feet,” the guard ordered.  
Taylor struggled to lift himself for the first time in days. He grabbed hold of the chain still anchored to the wall and pulled himself up onto his good foot, testing his weight on his right and glad to find it didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would.  
He barely had time to balance himself before the guard pulled on the collar and he stumbled forward.   
Limping, he was led out into the corridor he hadn’t seen in a week. Using his hands to lean against the walls as he walked he followed the guard to the stairs and through the door at the top.  
The fluorescent lights stung his eyes the moment they walked through. It was like Seth shining the flashlight in his eyes. Because it took his eyes some time to adjust he wasn’t focusing on where he was being led until they came to a second staircase. Once they hit it he realised they’d been past a row of cells.  
When they reached the next floor Taylor caught his first glimpse of daylight, seeing the sun setting through a high window. They appeared to be in a large open area which could easily have passed for a shooting range.  
The guard took him to the right and through another door. More stairs.  
At the top Taylor had to squint at the sunlight coming through a wall-sized window, which looked out onto some kind of forest. The serene scene was a stark contrast to what Taylor felt was coming.  
They made their way through an opposite duo of redwood doors, and into what looked like a lavishly furnished living room. Complete with a roaring fire to make it deceptively homely.  
The guard paused when they heard something rolling along the floor in the next room. Connor soon appeared with some sort of trolley, atop which sat a kind of metallic grate with strategic restraints.  
Taylor shivered at the sight of it, knowing where he was headed. Connor set it against the far wall before indicating for the guard to bring Taylor closer.  
Taylor flinched at the pull on the collar but followed obediently.


	82. 82

“What are you going to do?” Taylor stammered as he stood back against the metallic grate.  
Connor was calmly fastening his wrists to each side with the standard magnetic cuffs.  
“Unless I specifically invite you to do so, you will not speak,” Connor took a moment to look him in the eye, to make sure Taylor knew he was serious.  
Taylor gulped again, looking across at the guard as Connor continued what he was doing. When he was finished with his wrists he moved to his waist. A thick chain was fastened across his body and arms and locked to either side.  
“Am I relieved, Sir?” the guard asked, standing awkwardly in the doorway.  
“You are relieved,” Connor relented, “send Jerry in on your way out. It’s about time he was put to some good use.”  
“Yes Sir,” the guard nodded, eyeing Taylor before taking his leave.  
Taylor watched him go before his eyes fell to where Connor had stooped to secure his ankles. He was being cautious around Taylor’s damaged foot, but still making sure the ankle was secure.  
When he was done he groaned a little as he pulled himself to his feet.  
“Sorry,” he mused as he stretched his back, “I’m not as young as I once was.”  
Taylor just frowned at his casual demeanour. Now that he was standing in front of him he realised they were about the same height. Connor had always seemed taller.  
He watched as Connor made his way to a nearby coffee table to retrieve a mug and take a sip. While he was distracted Taylor pulled on the cuffs to test their strength.  
They were a lot stronger than he was.  
“Now… what were you saying?” Connor turned back with an interested expression.  
Taylor looked up from the cuffs, dirty hair falling into his eyes.  
“You believe Seth’s incarceration has nothing to do with you and your brothers?” Connor frowned.  
Taylor hesitated, unsure if Connor just wanted to be provoked at this point. He couldn’t see a weapon anywhere but it wasn’t as if Connor really needed one.  
“I’m just saying we didn’t instigate it,” he replied cautiously, “we weren’t there when-“  
“Then how come…” Connor cut him off, “the first thing the army did when they found your brother was to whisk him away, back to the Pentagon for safekeeping?”  
Taylor blanched at that. Isaac was safe. Seth had been caught.  
It had been a good day for the good guys. Which he immediately knew meant it’d be a bad night for him.  
“We’re considered high profile witnesses,” Taylor offered in the same small voice, “if they happened to find Ike while raiding a base, it would make sense they’d need him to testify against Seth-“  
“You don’t believe that, do you?” Connor cut him off again, giving him a condescending look.  
“Believe what?” Taylor asked, eyes wide.  
“That it was simply a coincidence?” Connor took a step closer, mug in hand.  
“They were searching for you and your brothers when Seth did a silly thing. He slipped up. But they were still searching for you, and that is why they found him. Not because of a random border patrol or highway pullover, but because they were already searching.”  
He looked Taylor over and sighed.  
“There’s hardly anything to happen to my brothers and myself over the past few years that hasn’t been – in some way or another – caused by you and yours,” he decided.  
Taylor closed his eyes at that, praying that it was just a nightmare and he was still in the dungeon.


	83. 83

Once Taylor lay his eyes on the dagger Connor produced from a cabinet drawer, he couldn’t pull them away.  
It was as decorative as both Krüger and Ryan’s guns. Connor looked it over in a way that made Taylor wonder if he’d been drinking before bringing it over to him.  
“If I were to…” Connor trailed the tip across Taylor’s waist gently, “cut… just a little. Do you think you could keep your voice down for me?”  
Taylor gulped again, feeling himself shivering under the touch.  
“Yes Sir,” he responded, his voice obviously shaky but not unsure.  
Connor regarded him curiously, before lifting the collar of his shirt which had once been white. He slid the dagger under to break the seam, then tore it straight down the front. Taylor kept his eyes away as he also slit down the sleeves and pulled the rest of the cloth away.  
As he let it fall to the floor he clicked his tongue appreciatively.  
“Now I see why,” he reasoned.  
He stepped closer and began trailing a finger down the single scar left by Le Boucher.  
“Who on Earth inflicted these?” he asked with interest, moving down to a scar that Nate had left.  
“Nate,” Taylor replied first, figuring that covered most of them, “and… Krüger. The Butcher. The Mexicans…”  
Connor suddenly lifted his chin a little, cutting Taylor off as they made sudden eye contact.  
“Did you deserve them?” he asked seriously.  
Taylor struggled to think and maintain eye contact at the same time.   
“Some of them,” he tried to answer honestly.  
“How about this one?” Connor lowered his finger to just above Taylor’s hip, pointing out a scar left by Nate at the cabin.  
“No,” Taylor closed his eyes for a moment, wondering why he was getting so many questions.  
He was beginning to wish he’d just get it over with.  
“Then why was it inflicted?” Connor asked.  
“Nate’s idea of fun,” Taylor barely managed to get out, trying to hold back a groan as he started to feel dizzy.  
Standing alone after so long was giving him vertigo, and he knew he was once again venturing into the territory of malnourishment. If he wasn’t there already.  
“I see,” Connor relented, suddenly having to hold back a yawn.  
“Forgive me,” he said again, “it was a very early morning for me, as you can understand.”  
He chuckled lightly to himself, using the dagger to trace along the edge of the larger scar on Taylor’s left hip. Taylor half expected him to reopen the wound Nate had almost killed him with, but he knew Connor was just toying with him for now.  
“What about this?” he asked in a slightly lower tone.  
“Yes,” Taylor’s eyes finally closed.  
“Why?” Connor immediately followed with, “why did you deserve this one?”  
“Because someone died, and it was my fault,” Taylor managed to keep his voice steady, but it was hard.  
“Hmm…” Connor mused, before stepping away from him.  
He looked up to the doorway as Jerry appeared, knocking softly on the open door.  
“Gerard,” he beckoned, “come on in. We have something to discuss, you and I.”


	84. 84

“We do Sir?” Jerry’s eyebrows rose as he walked in.  
“Yes. Come in, take a seat,” Connor beckoned again, indicating for Jerry to take the couch.  
Taylor watched on as the guard nervously took a seat. He’d never seen Jerry this anxious before.  
“Is there a problem?” Jerry asked, looking up as Connor passed him on a pace.  
“Maybe, maybe,” Connor relented.  
Taylor watched him trace the edge of the dagger with his fingertips, just out of Jerry’s eye line.  
“I received word some time ago that Seth has been incarcerated,” Connor revealed.  
“Seth’s in jail?” Jerry turned to look up at him, “how?”  
“How is no longer the matter here,” Connor insisted, “more so what to do now that he is… not. I’m sure you’re aware my brother and I didn’t have all that much time together between my liberation and his incarceration.”  
“No. I’m sorry to hear that,” Jerry frowned, wondering how it pertained to him.  
“Therefore, I wish to know if there’s anything of importance he would have failed to tell me in that time,” Connor moved around behind him.  
Jerry faced front as he tried to think.  
“Well you know Chadron fried, that’s the last base we lost…”  
“Correction,” Connor cut in, “Wausau was the last base we lost.”  
“I bet Hudson’s freaking out,” Jerry smirked.  
“Hudson has also been incarcerated,” Connor rolled his eyes.  
“Damn. Well aside from that…”  
“What deals did Seth have going? Anything not in the books that I should be made aware of?”  
Jerry sighed, twiddling his thumbs.  
“There’s a few sales happening in Mississippi that I know if,” he shrugged, “but they should all be on paper. Seth’s training a couple of kids himself, but you met Jack… so you probably knew that.”  
“I did,” Connor nodded, pacing behind the couch.  
“He has a blonde chick who I think’s replacing Kathryn… and this other little weed who-“  
He was cut off by Connor suddenly leaning forward and using the dagger to slit his throat. Taylor flinched and turned his eyes away without a sound.  
He heard Jerry gurgling as he lost blood and oxygen before collapsing to his side on the couch.  
“Oh Seth…” Connor sighed, walking over to the cabinet and retrieving a handkerchief to wipe the dagger clean with, “you really do have a habit of finding the most egomaniacal recruits.”  
Taylor just stared at a nearby vase, knowing he was speaking aloud for his benefit.  
Connor made his way to the door as he continued wiping the dagger, pausing in the doorway and taking a deep breath.  
“JACK?” he called, an echo from the large room downstairs following.  
As he waited, Taylor finally managed to lift his eyes again. A pool of blood was seeping onto the floorboards beneath the couch, but he could only see the top of Jerry’s head.  
“You’re not upset by that, are you?” he jumped when he realised Connor was watching him again.  
“No Sir,” Taylor replied, surprising himself with how honest it felt.  
“Good. Well…” Connor shrugged, “Gerard has been a thorn in my side for a while now. And it’s time to make a few changes around here now that Seth is indisposed.”  
Jack appeared before he finished the sentence.  
“You’re working for me now, nod if you understand,” Connor waited for him, “good. Clean this up.”


	85. 85

“Ike,” Dekker extended his hand, “good to see you again.”  
“Same here,” Isaac nodded as Devon led him through to interrogation, “did I miss anything?”  
“What, you think we’ve been sitting with our thumbs up our asses for a week?” Devon smirked, “we’ll catch you up on everything when you’re done with the interview.”  
“Cool,” Isaac nodded, waving to Dekker as he disappeared again, “and then you can tell me what the deal is with Zac and Tay.”  
Devon didn’t respond to that, just held the interview room door open for him.  
Considering the time that had passed, Isaac was surprised that it was only a short interview. Most of it centred on his time with Seth before going to Hudson, because there really wasn’t much to tell about his time in Wausau.   
Devon entered the room once the interviewing officer left, and took up his former seat with a sigh.  
“What’s going on?” Isaac demanded straight away.  
“How much do you know about what happened with Taylor?” Devon asked him.  
“How do you mean?” Isaac’s eyes narrowed, “I didn’t know they had him until they threatened to shoot him if Zac didn’t give himself up. Then once the camera was turned off I was pulled out of the room straight away and whisked off to Wausau. I didn’t even have a chance to talk to him.”  
Devon nodded, then sighed as he leant forward.  
“If you knew he was dead, you’d tell me right?” Isaac tried to hide his worry.  
“We don’t know,” Devon admitted, shaking his head, “like I said, I was kinda hoping we’d find him in Wausau. No offence.”  
“I get that a lot,” Isaac couldn’t help but smirk.  
“On Tay we’ve heard nothing since that night Vance died,” Devon clarified, “we were hoping you could give us more.”  
“Sorry,” Isaac shrugged, “all I know is that Seth was Hell bent on killing him as soon as possible. But then this morning he called Hudson and told him he was coming to pick me up. I don’t know if that had anything to do with Tay or not, but… he said Connor wanted to meet me.”  
“So maybe Connor has Tay?” Devon suggested, “it would have had to be a quick changeover. Connor only escaped last night.”  
“Your guess is as good as mine, apparently,” Isaac shrugged, “all I know is, wherever he had Tay? It must have been at least a twelve hour drive, and he had to go through Chicago. I heard Hudson say he should have checked in from there.”  
“Chicago’s where we picked him up,” Devon confirmed, “it makes sense.”  
He paused, before getting up and heading for the door.  
“Wait,” Isaac turned in his seat, “what about Zac? You said something about pulling him out when you knew Tay was safe?”  
“I did,” Devon paused with his hand on the doorknob, “we sent him to Alaska with a tracer.”  
“Like Tay’s?” Isaac frowned.  
“A bit more discreet, but yes,” Devon nodded, “we know where he is. As long as he holds up his end of the bargain he should be fine until we find Tay.”  
“You mean _if_ we find Tay?” Isaac corrected.  
“No,” Devon opened the door, “I mean _until_ we find him.”  
Isaac watched after him as he left, another soldier popping his head in once he was gone. Seeing that it was Monroe ready to take him to see Nikki and the boys, he grinned and stood.


	86. 86

Jack took some time cleaning up the mess and removing the body while Connor went for a shower. He wanted to make sure he didn’t leave a spot behind, which Taylor knew firsthand was going to be hard on this floor.  
He remembered trying to scrub blood out of the floorboards at the cabin with Nate. It wasn’t easy.  
Jack eyed him a couple of times as if he wanted to say something, but always thought better of it and got back to work. Connor returned to the room wearing a robe and drying his hair with a towel before Jack could finish.  
Jack rushed to clean up the last bit of soapy water he’d used before grabbing the bucket and making to leave the room.  
“Jack?” Connor said softly, making the boy freeze before turning back.  
“You missed a spot,” Connor pointed to the edge of the couch.  
Jack gulped a little, throwing Taylor a glance before bringing the bucket back. Just as he was getting ready to have another go with the sponge, Connor tsked.  
“I don’t know about you, Jack,” he began snidely – obviously more awake after his shower, “but I’ve always found saliva to be an incredible cleaning agent. Don’t you think?”  
Jack paused, looking up at him from his knees.  
“Don’t you think you should try it?” was an order masked as a question.  
Taylor watched on with a frown as Jack relented, returning the sponge to the bucket before falling down onto his stomach and licking the final drop of blood from the floor. When he returned to his knees Connor gave him a pat on the head.  
“Good boy,” he smiled, “now run along. I need some time alone with Taylor for tonight.”  
Taylor’s eyes followed Jack as he practically scrambled to his feet, grabbed the bucket, and left the room. Once he’d closed the doors behind him Taylor’s attention was back on Connor.  
Connor set his towel over the back of the now-clean couch and sighed.  
“It’s nice to finally have some peace and quiet. It’s been a long day,” he mused, untying the robe and redoing it tighter as he made his way to the cabinet.  
He retrieved the dagger, making Taylor automatically take hold of the bars his wrists were locked to.  
Casually, he began to make his way over. Taylor kept his eyes on the dagger as Connor ran his fingers down the edge again, before using the same fingers to trace an area clear of scarring just above the largest on Taylor’s left hip. Without a word of forewarning, Connor slid the blade under the skin.  
Taylor clenched his jaw with a soft grunt, remembering Connor’s earlier warning that he didn’t want him to make a sound. When the pain didn’t cease he dropped his head to see that Connor was concentrating on forming a pattern.  
Blood was pooling at the edge of his belt and seeping into the denim of his jeans.   
When Connor finally pulled back, he took a couple of deep breaths.  
“Good boy,” Connor said placidly, using part of the robe to clean the blade.  
He set it aside on a small coffee table before returning to the cabinet and retrieving a padlock. Taylor watched as he brought it back, taking the chain still hanging from the collar and looping it through one of the links. When it was locked to one side of the frame he began to unlock Taylor’s wrists and the chain across his waist.  
“I can hardly expect you to spend the night standing here,” he relented, “especially in your weak state. We’ll sort out better accommodations in the morning.”  
Taylor fell forward onto his hands and knees once he was released, the chain barely reaching.


	87. 87

Zac had been asleep for a couple of hours when he awoke to a similar noise that had disturbed him the night before.  
With a grunt he pulled himself up on the bed, eyes widening a little when this time he saw the beam of a flashlight pass under his door.  
“Who’s there?” he called out softly, sitting up further.  
There was no reply. Instead, Zac began to hear the wooden beam being removed from the door.  
He set the bedcovers aside and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for whoever it was to open the door. The beam fell aside with a small clunk, and the flashlight passed under the door again.  
Then he heard footsteps walking away.  
With a frown, Zac pulled himself up and grabbed his jacket. Sometimes Victor had just opened the door when it was time to go out, but he’d never just moved the beam and walked away without at least offering a ‘good morning’ nod.  
Zac made his way to the door and pulled it open. A small amount of moonlight filtered through a side window into the main room, but he was barely able to make out the furniture from it. To his left, he saw the flashlight beam disappearing through a doorway he hadn’t gone through before.  
“Hello?” he tried again, trying not to wake anyone.  
He glanced back into his room before the light caught his eye again. Whoever had it had shone it back into the space as if to check whether Zac were following them or not. Sensing that it was an indication that he should, Zac folded his arms to try and retain some warmth as he stepped out into the room.  
By the time he got to the doorway the person was gone again. But he could see short flashes through yet another doorway further over. He followed it again.  
This time when he reached the next door he could see soft candlelight illuminating the room. Just enough to see the furniture, but not enough to use to read anything. He looked around for another doorway the person might have disappeared through, but could only make out a door to the left which was closed (and he certainly hadn’t heard it open or shut).  
He cautiously stepped into the room, checking over his shoulder in case he’d chosen the wrong doorway by accident. He couldn’t see anything but black.  
The room appeared to be a bedroom. From what he could see of the decorations, the bedspread was floral and there were painted birds on the walls. Either it was the room of a small child, or perhaps a young girl.  
Feeling very awkward all of a sudden – as if he were intruding – he moved over to a bedside chest where the candle sat. He hoped to use it to see his way around a bit easier, and maybe find his way back to his own room.  
As he was reaching for it, a photo sitting nearby caught his eye. With a frown, he got down on one knee and pulled the frame closer to the candle so he could see.   
It was a photo of a young brunette, possibly in her early teens. She wasn’t exactly attractive, but she certainly wasn’t ugly either.  
Also in the photo, was Zac.  
He covered his mouth with his hand as he looked it over. It had to have been taken during a tour sometime around the release of _This Time Around_ , as he had long hair himself.   
And suddenly it was starting to make sense. He wasn’t entirely sure how it all came together at this point, but he was definitely getting an idea.


	88. 88

Taylor took deep breaths as he leant back against the grate. His left hand held the wound Connor had inflicted, his right held the bottom of the collar away from his throat.  
He was in the dark. Connor had gone to bed.  
The fire had been reduced to glowing coals, but it still allowed him enough light to make out dark shapes in the room. But he knew he soon wouldn’t have that either, and he’d have to rely on his hearing.  
Sleep wasn’t an option considering the position he’d been forced into. He couldn’t lean down any further for fear of choking, and the pain in his side was keeping him conscious alone.  
The silence in the apartment – or whatever it was – allowed him to hear footsteps through the doors.  
There was a soft knock, which Taylor knew Connor wouldn’t hear, before the right door opened. A flashlight came through followed by its carrier. Purple vision now lost, Taylor couldn’t see who it was.  
But their light soon fell on him.  
“Taylor?” he heard Kadie’s voice as she rushed over to him.  
“Kadie?” he frowned, shielding his eyes until she turned the light down.  
She set it on the ground still pointing in his direction as she began to look him over.  
“What did he do to you?” she whispered, a hand touching his where she could see the blood escaping.  
“Kadie he won’t want you here,” Taylor warned, “you need to leave.”  
“Let me help,” Kadie insisted, trying to pull his hand away.  
“Kadie, no,” Taylor insisted, “you’ll wake him up, and he’ll kill you.”  
Kadie paused, biting her bottom lip as she thought.  
“I heard what happened to Jerry. Or, Jack signed it,” she told him.  
“Connor slit his throat just because he didn’t like him,” Taylor’s eyebrows rose, “what do you think he’ll do to you if he finds out you’ve been sneaking around?”  
“He’s not going to find out,” Kadie insisted.  
“He’s not?” Taylor’s voice croaked, “because Jack literally licked the floor clean. You’ve probably left footprints.”  
Kadie hesitated, then grabbed the flashlight and turned it back onto the floor. Taylor took the distraction to sit himself up further.  
“We’re cool,” she insisted, turning the light back and using it to look over the damage to Taylor’s side.  
With a groan he relented and pulled his hand away.  
“What the-?” Kadie barely breathed, touching just above it.  
“What?” Taylor tried to look down, “what is it?”  
“It looks like…” Kadie squinted, “it looks like he tried to sign his name or something. I can definitely make out a ‘C’.”  
“What?” Taylor gasped, suddenly trying to sit up further.  
He looked down and watched as Kadie indicated the wounds with her pointer finger. He gulped when he realised she was right.  
“I guess he wanted his to stand out,” he cringed, leaning back against the grate again.  
“Mission accomplished,” Kadie murmured, looking over his other scars she hadn’t seen before.


	89. 89

“Why didn’t you tell me about Kathryn?” Taylor asked, using his right arm to hug his waist.  
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to know,” Kadie looked at him curiously, “aren’t you all hung up on people dying around you at the moment?”  
“Depends on who it is,” Taylor shrugged, “while I don’t appreciate how it happened, I’m glad Jerry’s out of my life. The same could be said for a few other people.”  
Kadie tilted her head, some hair falling across her knee.  
“Are you glad Kathryn’s dead?” she asked.  
“No,” Taylor insisted, “I felt sorry for her more than anything.”  
“You felt sorry for her?” Kadie couldn’t help but smirk, “she was a bitch! Especially to you.”  
“I felt sorry for her in the same way I feel sorry for you,” Taylor amended tiredly.  
“You think I’m a bitch?” she demanded.  
“I didn’t say that,” Taylor tried to keep his voice down, “and it’s not worth explaining to you if you’re going to shut me off like that.”  
Kadie hesitated, feeling somewhat put in her place. She had to frown a moment at the absurdity.  
“Sorry,” she quickly brushed over, avoiding his stare, “why do you feel sorry for me? And why are you comparing us?”  
“Because you’re turning into her,” Taylor said softly, “and it’s happening right in front of me, and I can’t do anything about it.”  
Kadie rolled her eyes.  
“No, listen,” Taylor insisted, leaning forward slightly with the chain rattling, “Kathryn went through exactly what you’re going through. She was trained to be perfect for Seth. To be anything that he wanted. I know you were going down that path, but you have an advantage that she didn’t.”  
“What, you?” Kadie scorned, not liking where he was going.  
“No, Connor,” Taylor knew he was confusing her, “because Kathryn spent years with Seth, learning everything she could to appease him. But now that Seth’s gone, you don’t have that option.”  
“So what, I’m supposed to be grateful that Connor’s a better guy or something?” Kadie frowned.  
“No,” Taylor frowned, “but you’ve been taken off track. You have the opportunity to sit back and realise where Seth was taking you, and you have the ability to choose whether or not you’re going to go the same route with Connor, or if you’re going to stay focused and smart about it. This is an opportunity for you to take a step back and maybe work out how to get out of here. Away from them all. And believe me, it _is_ possible.”  
Kadie hesitated, then narrowed her eyes at him.  
“I think spending so long in the dungeon has fried your brain,” she shook her head, “how could you possibly think that Connor taking over leaves us a chance of escaping? How do those two things even go together?”  
“I’m not telling you to escape, per se,” Taylor corrected, “I’m just saying that if you could get as close to Connor as you have to Seth, you could work out a way for yourself to… I don’t know, disappear forever. And you could take Jake with you.”  
Both their heads turned when they suddenly heard a cough from Connor’s room. Taylor gulped.  
“You need to go,” he whispered.  
Kadie looked between him and the doorway, before nodding shortly.  
“Yeah… I guess I should,” she agreed.  
She carefully pulled herself to her feet, took the flashlight, and crept outside without making a noise.


	90. 90

Victor opened Zac’s door the next morning with a confused expression on his face.  
“’Morning,” Zac greeted, getting up from the bed.  
“Who moved the beam?” Victor frowned, a hand still on the door.  
“My sketch pad fairy, I guess,” Zac shrugged, “I had another visitor last night.”  
Victor gave him an odd look, before checking over his shoulder. Nigel was already walking through to the dining area.  
He ducked into the room and closed the door a little behind him.  
“You think Nigel would have opened the door to get you in trouble?” he frowned.  
“Nope,” Zac folded his arms, “not Nigel. Dude was shorter.”  
Victor looked taken aback.  
“And he didn’t just open the door, he led me out. He took me to a room where…”  
Zac trailed off, suddenly not sure if he should say anything about it or not.  
“Do you know anything about the girl?” he asked.  
“Girl?” Victor returned, “what girl?”  
“Brunette, about yea high…” Zac held his hand at about his shoulder, “acne?”  
“What, you think there’s a girl here?” Victor just looked more and more confused by the second.  
“Isn’t there?” Zac returned the frown.  
“Ah… no,” Victor assured, “if there was, I’m sure I would have met her by now. I mean if I can see Fowler’s face, you’d assume I’ve met everyone here. There’s only the five of us on site.”  
Zac hesitated, then bit his lip.  
“Then who’s the sketch pad fairy?” he smirked.  
“You think there’s a girl on site who’s sneaking you out at night and giving you random presents?” Victor tried to make sense of it.  
“I don’t know what I think,” Zac shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.  
He wasn’t awake enough for this conversation.  
“Yo Victor!” they heard Nigel call from outside.  
“We need to go,” Victor insisted, “just… don’t say anything. If your fairy really is someone hanging around the cabin, we don’t need Nigel _or_ Fowler finding out.”  
“Whatever,” Zac shrugged, following Victor as he opened the door again and led the way out.  
“What’s taking so long? You boys consummating your union or something?” Nigel smirked from the table.  
“That’s a big word for you, do you even know what it means?” Victor hit back as they both took a seat.  
When Nigel saw Zac smirk, he glowered.  
“’Course I know what it means!” he glared at Victor, “do you?”  
“Now, now. It’s too early in the morning for this,” Mrs T appeared from the kitchen with hot porridge for each of them.  
Zac thanked her as usual when the bowl was set in front of him before beginning to eat straight away.  
“Just havin’ a bit of fun Miss,” Nigel insisted, “nothin’ to worry your pretty head about.”  
The woman tapped him on the head as she passed on her way back to the kitchen.  
“That’s not going to work on me Nigel, but you keep trying,” she insisted, making Victor smirk.  
Nigel caught it and stuck his tongue out in retort.


	91. 91

Straight after breakfast, Isaac headed back toward where he knew Devon and the guys would be working. When he found the room they were in, he knocked cautiously on the open door. There were already views from multiple highway cameras on screen.  
“Hey Ike,” Devon turned, his arms folded.  
“How’s it going this morning?” Isaac asked, taking that as his invitation into the room.  
Jenkins was off to the left on a laptop with a headset, another soldier flanking him. Two more were keep an eye on the big screen.  
“We’re trying to follow Seth’s van in reverse,” Devon sighed, “it’s been going all night and it hasn’t been easy.”  
“You know…” Isaac mused, sipping at his coffee as he spoke, “I remember back when this started for us, we used to have to wait at least twelve hours – sometimes days – for warrants to get this footage. I’m impressed you guys can get in so fast.”  
“Warrants are just a way to prove to the law that you have probable cause,” Devon shrugged, “the military wouldn’t ask at all if he we didn’t. It cuts out the middle man.”  
“Cool,” Isaac nodded, watching the screens and sighting a familiar black van, “so how far has he gone?”  
“So far we’ve got him taking state route ninety through from Ohio to Pennsylvania,” Devon indicated the bottom corner of the screen, “we’re waiting to see if he goes through to New York or not.”  
“He didn’t take the seventy-nine,” Jenkins reported, otherwise completely encompassed in what he was doing.  
“Is he going past Erie?” Devon frowned.  
“Looks like.”  
“He’s going to New York, he has to be,” Devon shook his head, “he’s probably got him up around the West Falls area somewhere.”  
“A hunch?” Isaac’s eyebrows rose.  
“Yeah, a big one,” Devon nodded.  
“I’ll skip to the cams at the eighty-six and make sure he doesn’t take that,” Jenkins made a few adjustments and different cameras came on the big screen, “then we’ll follow him north if he does go that way.”  
“Do we have men on the ground out there in case you’re right?” Isaac asked.  
“We sent some out to Cleveland, so they’ll be within range,” Devon assured, “otherwise, we’re it.”  
“Cool,” Isaac nodded again, starting to feel a bit out of place, “so what can I do?”  
“You can go and spend some time with your family,” Devon insisted, “until we hit a location this is all we’ll be doing. I’ll meet up with you for lunch though, okay?”  
Isaac pulled a face but nodded.  
“Okay. I’ll hold you to that.”  
After one last look at the screens, he turned to leave the room.  
He’d always gotten on more with the members of the FBI and Tulsa PD than the military. When the military took over they’d seemed to spend more time with Zac chasing him than with him chasing Zac or Taylor.   
He certainly felt on the outer this time around.  
But he had been there less than twelve hours. Hopefully as Devon said once they had a location on Seth’s van things would start to pick up a bit.


	92. 92

Taylor jumped. It was only when he was startled that he realised he had actually been able to fall asleep sitting up against the rack.  
He looked up to see Connor already in the room, giving him a condescending look as he moved through to the kitchen area.  
Taylor’s eyes followed him until he was out of sight. Once he disappeared he managed to pull himself up so that he was sitting straighter – taking some of the strain off his back. Looking down he noticed that the blood had all dried up leaving half his body and a good portion of his jeans – not to mention the floor - almost black.  
No wonder Connor didn’t approve.  
His left hand was also caked in the dried blood, and it made anything he touched sticky.  
Connor soon returned to the room with what Taylor could smell as a mug of coffee. Taylor watched as he made his way to the cabinet and pulled out the key Taylor knew was for the chain holding him up.  
Without a word Connor stepped over and unlocked it.  
“Bathroom is through there,” he indicated, “I expect you clean and tidy. Then you can clean up the mess you’ve made.”  
Taylor froze. He wasn’t sure if he understood what he meant. He was letting him free in the apartment already?  
“Taylor did you hear me?” his voice had a tone of annoyance already.  
“Yes Sir,” Taylor’s voice rasped.  
“Run along then,” Connor waved his hand, “I’ve taken the liberty of setting some things out for you.”  
Taylor waited until he turned away before trying to pull himself to his feet. It took a couple of tries, but he managed to stagger out of the room.  
He soon found the bathroom – looking like it had been plucked right from a five star hotel – and turned on the light before closing the door. There was no lock.  
Purposely avoiding the mirror he made straight for the shower and turned the water on.   
Aside from the chain pooling around his feet the entire time and wondering if the collar was going to rust while he was wearing it, the shower was the best thing to happen to him in a long time.   
Remembering how frugal Krüger had been with his shower time, he tried not to take too long before switching it off. As he was towelling himself he looked around for anything Connor may have left him, figuring it may have been similar to what Krüger had. He was surprised when instead of the plain slacks he’d envisioned he saw another pair of jeans in his size on the counter top.  
He bent to take the belt from the bloodstained jeans he’d left on the floor before pulling the new ones on. They were a good fit, which meant Connor had done his research.   
Absently fastening the belt before grabbing the towel again to dry his hair, his eyes caught something black he hadn’t noticed below the mirror earlier. It had been sitting near the denim, but his tunnel vision for the clothing had meant he’d missed it.  
It was leather, and had rings similar to those on the cuffs on his wrists.  
With a glance toward the door, he debated if he should inspect it. Connor had said he’d left ‘some things’ for him, which meant multiple. So far he’d only found the jeans.  
Taking a moment to gather himself, he grabbed it without thinking. And he dropped it just as fast.  
It was a gag. One that Seth had once put him in.  
Praying silently that Connor didn’t expect him to put it on, he debated taking it outside or not.


	93. 93

Taylor soon emerged from the bathroom, looking around pointedly for anything he could use to clean up with. Jack had taken what he’d used with him when he’d left.  
“Taylor?”  
He froze, eyes scanning the couch for where the voice had come from. He found Connor up the other end, still finishing his coffee with one leg lazily crossed over the other.  
“Did you forget something?” his eyebrows rose.  
Taylor took hold of the chain in his left fist, eyes falling to the floor. In all honesty he hadn’t been sure, but now he knew.  
“Go and get it,” Connor sighed as if he were reprimanding a small child, setting his coffee aside.  
Taylor retreated back into the bathroom, retrieved the gag, and took it back out to him. Connor was already out of his seat.  
He indicated for Taylor to come and stand in front of him, and Taylor reluctantly obeyed.  
“Do you know why I specifically set this out for you?” his eyebrows rose, taking it from him and opening the clasp.  
“No Sir,” Taylor kept his eyes down, feeling like he should be kneeling but it was the next best thing.  
Connor handed it back, Taylor reaching for it anxiously.  
“Put it on, and I will tell you,” Connor promised.  
Taylor closed his eyes for a moment as he held it, trying to bring himself to do as Connor asked. In his head he managed to count to three before slipping the leather over his head.  
When he had trouble with the buckle, Connor helped him fasten it before locking it into place.  
“Now,” he stood back and looked him in the eye, “I selected this for you, specifically because I overheard you speaking with Kadie last night.”  
Taylor’s eyes widened, and Connor quickly took hold of the chain before he could back away. With a grunt Taylor grabbed it above and below Connor’s hand to stop the pull.  
“My brother had warned me, of course, that you have a way with words,” Connor continued calmly as he looked him over, “and now I understand what he meant by that. Therefore, I think you need to spend some quality time without them. Do you understand?”  
Taylor nodded, just hoping he’d let him go. He didn’t.  
“Unfortunately this means you won’t be fed again for some time. Were you fed yesterday at all?” Connor asked curiously.  
Taylor shook his head.  
“The day before?”  
Taylor nodded. Connor considered that a moment.  
“Very well,” he dropped the chain, “you will be fed today. But I’ll demand silence. Understand?”  
Taylor nodded insistently, closing his eyes before they could well up.  
“Kneel,” Connor snapped his fingers.  
Taylor immediately fell to the floor, still holding his chain. He opened his eyes again to see Connor walk over to a nearby slim cupboard. When he opened the door Taylor could just make out the handles of both a broom and mop.  
“Use the contents of this cupboard to clean up your mess,” Connor instructed, “I have work to do which will render me otherwise incapacitated this morning. I want it clean by the time I return. You will have full access to the bathroom in the meantime.”  
After making sure Taylor knew what he wanted, he began gathering his paperwork for the day.


	94. 94

After yet another lunch of rabbit stew, Nigel disappeared and Victor led Zac back to his room.  
“So what exactly do you do all afternoon?” Zac frowned before Victor could close the door, “because there’s really only so much sleep a guy can get.”  
Victor hesitated, caught off guard.  
“Depends,” he considered, “sometimes Fowler has me run errands. There’s always work to be done around the cabin. And of course there’s the processing of the meat…”  
“You do that?” Zac scrunched his face up as he turned to sit back onto the bed.  
“Usually,” Victor nodded, “it’s not so bad once you get used to it. Plus I had an uncle once that was a butcher.”  
He paused at that, as if the sudden memory had hit him hard.  
“So why aren’t I doing it?” Zac asked, mainly to snap him out of it.  
“Don’t know,” Victor shrugged, “I started day one, pretty much. But Fowler doesn’t want you on it for some reason. Maybe he figures you don’t need to because I’m here.”  
“But surely there’s something I’m supposed to be doing instead?” Zac just looked confused, “he can’t just want me for hunting and nothing else. Between you and Nigel you have that taken care of too.”  
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Victor shrugged, “Fowler doesn’t give me anything other than orders. And don’t you go asking Mrs T about it either.”  
“I won’t,” Zac assured, already running through the alternatives.  
“I’ll come get you for dinner,” Victor assured, taking hold of the door, “as usual.”  
“Thanks,” Zac waved him off as it was closed.  
He heard Victor walk away without putting the beam across, and wondered if he’d done it on purpose.  
If neither Victor nor Nigel were inside the cabin, he might be able to find that room again… in daylight even.  
He tapped his fingers on the bed for a moment as he psyched himself up to do it, before pulling himself up and heading for the door. He opened it carefully in case anyone happened to be on the other side, and warily cast his eyes toward the kitchen to check if the older woman were there. She wasn’t.  
Easing the door open so that it wouldn’t creak, he slipped out into the main room and began for the opposite doorway. He kept his eye on the outside door in case either Victor or Nigel were to suddenly come in, but he couldn’t even hear anyone nearby and the cabin was known for its echoes.  
He made it to the doorway and tried to remember where the flashlight had led him the night before, seeing three further doorways already. Taking a moment to try and work it out, he crept forward to the second door on the right and carefully pushed the door open enough to poke his head through.  
He spotted the floral bedspread, matched by floral curtains in the moderate-sized window. Target sighted, he ducked into the room and closed the door again behind him.  
He went back to the photo just to confirm that he’d seen what he’d seen. He had, but he was taken aback at the amount of dust he could now see covering everything. His fingerprints were still set on the frame.  
If the girl did indeed live here, she hadn’t been here in a long time.  
He opened the chest of drawers, searching out other clues. Managing to stay as quiet as possible, he easily heard footsteps passing outside the door and froze to wait for them to dissipate.


	95. 95

They didn’t dissipate.  
Zac remained frozen as the door to the bedroom opened and the older woman walked in, eyes on a tray she held in her hands. It took her a moment to register that she wasn’t alone in the room.  
She almost screamed, but what came out instead was a sort of raspy yowl.  
“NIGEL?!” she yelled, dropping the tray and its contents and rushing out of the room.  
Zac groaned inwardly, not bothering to move. He’d been found and he couldn’t deny it.  
He looked over to what was evidently a closet, noticing how the door was slightly ajar. The person he’d followed the night before had to have hidden in there. There was nowhere else to go.  
Movement from the doorway caught his eye. He looked up in time to make eye contact with an older man, short in stature and with a bushy beard. His expression sent a chill down Zac’s spine, and in the millisecond before the man disappeared, he knew without a doubt that he’d just seen Fowler for the first time.  
Nigel appeared before he could process it.  
“What the heck you doin’?!” Nigel demanded, grabbing his arm with one hand and the collar with the other.  
“Sightseeing,” Zac scorned, trying not to choke as Nigel pulled him from the room.  
Instead of being taken back to his room like he assumed, Nigel took him through another door to the right into what looked like a messy study. No one was there, and Zac was forced to his knees.  
“You know the rules,” Nigel’s voice rose, “you stay in that room until you’re told to come out. End of story!”  
“I know,” Zac grunted, rubbing at his neck.  
“So what are you tryin’ to pull?!”  
“I’m not trying to pull anything,” Zac frowned, “I was just curious.”  
“Curiosity kills the slave,” Nigel paced behind him, making Zac wary that he could throw a punch at any moment.  
“Nigel?” Zac heard Fowler’s voice from behind him.  
“What?” he demanded.  
“Leave.”  
Zac frowned, not daring to turn around though he was sure he’d only see the man he saw earlier. He looked up at Nigel who seemed to be having trouble restraining himself.  
“He broke the rules,” Nigel seethed.  
“I’m aware of that. Take your aggression outside.”  
“But Dad-!“  
“Now, Nigel.”  
Zac’s eyes widened. That was something he hadn’t expected.  
Nigel grumbled something before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him. Zac’s eyes darted, registering that Fowler wasn’t moving.  
“Was it you?” he finally built up the courage to ask, feeling like Fowler was taking too long to say anything.  
“Yes,” came Fowler’s reply.  
He still wasn’t moving.  
“Why?” Zac frowned, turning his head but not daring to look back.  
“Honestly?” Fowler replied, “I don’t really know.”


	96. 96

“You don’t know?” Zac’s eyebrows rose.  
At the moment of silence that followed, Zac couldn’t help but gulp a little. He knew he must have been dangerously close to crossing a line that Victor had often warned him about.  
“Who is she?” he tried again.  
There was another awkward moment of silence, then Zac jumped as he heard Fowler move to the right.  
“She was my daughter,” Fowler revealed in a quiet voice.  
Zac’s brow furrowed. He instantly knew what his tone meant.  
“Can I ask what happened?” he asked, unsure how far his line of questioning could get him.  
“Maybe someday,” Fowler relented, finally moving into Zac’s eye line.  
Zac took a moment to bring himself to raise his eyes. From his knees, Fowler wasn’t all that much taller than him.  
“Where do I fit in?” he asked him.  
Fowler sighed as he walked over to his desk, leaning back against it as he considered the question.  
“Sam was always a big fan of music,” he began, eyes on the door, “but none more so than the music of a band called Hanson. She begged me relentlessly to take her to Vancouver to see a show. I had no idea who they were.”  
His eyes fell to Zac, and he instantly began to feel ten times smaller.  
“You were her favourite,” he revealed.  
Before Zac could ask anything else, Fowler stood and walked to the window.  
“After the show she returned home and started going downhill fast,” he sighed, “the doctors could do nothing. She was gone within months. But she maintained that she was happy, and that I’d managed to do the one thing for her that…”  
Zac’s eyes narrowed as Fowler trailed off, obviously finding it hard to talk about. When it appeared he wasn’t going to go on he decided to bite.  
“Why am I here?” he asked flat out.  
“I recognised you straight away,” Fowler looked over his shoulder at him, “everything the Creeds do has to pass through me, you see. It boils down to a pact made long ago between their father and my elder brother.”  
He turned back to the window and shook his head.  
“I couldn’t believe they didn’t know who you were. So I demanded to have you sent into my custody at first opportunity. Of course I didn’t want anything to seem out of place, so I had to let them train you still.”  
Zac just frowned at that. He wasn’t sure if it was making more sense or less at this point.  
“You wanted to save me?” his eyebrows rose, not sure if he had it right.  
Fowler didn’t respond. When Zac had a second to think it over, he looked up again.  
“Or did you just want to see if my being here would help you with your loss?” he tried.  
“I couldn’t let anything untoward happen to you,” Fowler turned back with an almost desperate expression, “my daughter would never forgive me, God rest her soul.”  
He pulled a pendant from under his woollen cardigan and kissed it before replacing it.  
“I knew that if the Creeds had their way, you would never see the light of day again. It became more urgent when Seth decided to put a kill order on you.”  
“So what about my brothers?” Zac frowned, “why couldn’t you help them too?”


	97. 97

“You’re late,” Isaac looked up as Devon joined him in the cafeteria.  
Devon planted his food on the bench and himself behind it.  
“We lost the van.”  
Isaac blanched.  
“You what?” he wasn’t sure he’d heard right.  
“We lost the van,” Devon looked him in the eye, “we tracked it down the eighty-six until just before Salamanca. It turned off into Allegany State and we got no further eyes on it.”  
“So now what?” Isaac demanded, “you can’t just assume that’s not even close to where they are. We all know they’re big fans of hiding in the woods so to speak.”  
“There’s a debate going on higher up as to whether it’s worth putting troops on the ground, considering we know we’re tracking a van that we already have in custody,” Devon didn’t look happy, “a few of us are trying to convince them to do a foot patrol in the area. But I can see their side – it’s a _big_ area. Lots of ground to cover.”  
“If it’s a state park there can’t be too many roads in and out,” Isaac shrugged, “can you at least set up a patrol to monitor the traffic passing through?”  
“Part of the debate yet again,” Devon assured, “personally I think we should be utilising the crew sent out to Cleveland, because there’s definitely nothing in Chicago. It was by chance we caught Seth passing through.”  
“Where is he?” Isaac frowned, “if I’m allowed to ask…”  
Devon hesitated, as if debating whether to tell him or not.  
“He’s here,” he revealed.  
“He’s _here_?!” Isaac demanded, jumping to his feet.  
“Calm down,” Devon followed him up, holding out a hand to pacify him, “he is here, but he’s not going anywhere. We have him on lockdown. He’s been in interrogations since last night because they’re still trying to get a location out of him. If there’s even a chance that he could fold and let up on where Tay is, you’d want that right?”  
“Of course I’d want that,” Isaac scorned, “but couldn’t it be done… I don’t know…”  
“Where?” Devon shrugged, “ADMAX? Where both Nate and Connor escaped from?”  
“You can’t tell me security didn’t learn from those mistakes,” Isaac insisted.  
“They have, believe me,” Devon assured, “and they’re being very careful with who they hire from now on. Both of them had traces of it being an inside job.”  
Isaac hesitated, then ran his fingers through his hair.  
“Can I-?”  
“No,” Devon cut him off, “don’t even think about it.”  
Isaac was about to retort when Jenkins made a sudden appearance. He nodded in the direction to let Devon know he was there.  
“Devon,” Jenkins called, “Andrews just ordered clearance to send troops out to Salamanca, Randolph and Bradford. We’re locking the state park down.”  
“Yes!” Devon said through his teeth, reaching down to grab an apple from his tray.  
“You need to eat more than that,” Isaac raised an eyebrow as Devon took off.  
“Later!” he insisted, soon disappearing from the cafeteria.  
Jenkins offered Isaac a shrug before disappearing himself. Isaac looked down at the tray, grabbed a couple of other items, and followed the two.


	98. 98

Taylor held the chain into his chest as he leant back against one of the table legs.  
Going for so long without anything but stale bread, just the smell of Connor’s lunch had set his stomach lurching. He could almost feel it clawing its way up his throat to try and reach for the food.  
He tried to distract himself by massaging his jaw with his free hand. It was already aching from the position it was forced into.  
The chain was anchored somewhere above the table, and Taylor almost jumped out of his skin when there came a sudden tug on it.  
“Kneel,” Connor’s voice followed.  
Taylor pulled himself to his hands and knees without hesitation, kneeling where he could be seen. Connor raised a finger and beckoned him closer.  
“Closer. But only if you want the gag removed.”  
Taylor closed his eyes in relief, crawling forward so he was practically by Connor’s side. Almost like a dog.  
Connor leant down and unlocked the gag, pulling it away from his head and setting it on the edge of the table.  
“Finish this,” he instructed, taking his own plate and setting it on the floor in front of Taylor, “and I want it all gone.”  
That wasn’t going to be a problem. Taylor could have eaten the chair if he’d asked him to.  
Paying no mind that they were leftovers, Taylor dug in. He was careful to keep quiet, as Connor had earlier demanded silence and he knew the order still stood. There was definitely enough food on there to keep him going for a while.  
Almost choking by the time he finished, he sat back onto his knees and wiped at his mouth. When he looked up and realised that Connor had been staring at him the entire time, he flinched.  
“Now you may clean it,” Connor nodded to the plate, as if to offer him permission.  
Taylor took a glance over his shoulder to get his bearings on the kitchen, before taking the plate and pulling himself to his feet. Connor let the chain fall to the floor, and it snaked behind him as he made his way over to the sink.  
He tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but his senses were tuned to Connor’s movements. He sat watching from the table for a long time, before standing and making his way over to stand behind him.  
Taylor couldn’t help but be cautious as he began drying the plate.  
“How does your stomach fare?” Connor asked softly, placing a hand on Taylor’s shoulder and running it down his arm slightly.  
Taylor felt the hairs on the back of his neck immediately stand on end.  
“Do you feel unwell at all?”  
Taylor shook his head, assuming the silence order was still in place.   
“Good,” Connor smiled.  
Taylor set the plate down just in time for Connor to replace the gag over his head. He jumped again, and if he’d still been holding it the plate would have smashed with the intensity.  
Taylor leant against the sink to wait for it to be locked in place, before Connor took his shoulder and turned him to face him.  
“You don’t even realise what you’re becoming, do you?” he said cryptically, taking hold of the chain and running his fingers down the length absently as he looked him over.


	99. 99

Taylor soon found himself back against the rack he’d earlier cleaned. Connor looped the chain to the top so that he was forced to stand up straight, one hand on the chain to try and keep the collar down from his throat.  
“Now, if you – at any point – feel the need to vomit, you must let me know,” Connor insisted as he secured the chain around his waist again, “I’d like you to do this by snapping your fingers. Do you understand?”  
Taylor nodded, closing his eyes as he wondered what could possibly be coming.  
“We don’t want you choking to death just yet,” Connor mused, giving him a pat on the chest before taking his right hand away from the collar and fastening the cuff to the side again.  
Taylor took a few deep breaths before relinquishing his left hand, now more afraid of choking by the collar than anything else.  
Once Connor had him set, he returned to the cabinet to retrieve the dagger. Taylor’s eyes glued to it.  
When Connor placed the blade against his stomach he couldn’t look down enough to see it – the collar held his chin up too far. But Taylor managed to keep himself composed until he felt Connor go for the buckle on his belt.  
He immediately let out a startled cry, of course muffled, as Connor worked to undo it.  
“Calm down,” Connor insisted in a placid tone, “just finding a blank piece of canvas to work with.”  
Taylor squeezed his eyes shut, praying it wouldn’t be where he thought it was. When he felt the blade enter his skin just on his pelvic bone, he couldn’t help but feel at least a little relieved.  
Again, a conflicting feeling. That pain could be relieving.  
He turned his head to the left and cringed, trying to hold his breath as Connor went about his work. He was carving something else, that much was obvious. When he was done he stood back to admire his work.  
“I have been thinking over your punishment for last night’s transgression,” he seemed to murmur absently, tracing the new wounds with his finger gently, “and I have decided to return you to the dungeon for tonight. Your adornment intact.”  
Taylor didn’t bother opening his eyes. At least if he were in the dungeon he knew he’d be left alone. It didn’t seem like much of a punishment.  
“This morning I was able to acquire a nice addition for you. I hope you will make the most of it,” Connor added, wiping the blade clean on the new jeans Taylor wore before continuing his work.  
Taylor didn’t have time to process what he said before he was already trying to distract himself from the pain again. He concentrated on his breathing mostly, and trying not to make a further sound.  
Connor continued on for what must have been a good couple of hours before instructing Taylor to clean up around the rack. The first thing he did once his hands were free was to buckle his belt again, but he soon got to work while trying to avoid touching the newly damaged area. Once done – Connor watching every move – Connor took him by the chain to lead him back downstairs.  
Taylor held the chain as he was led, stumbling a little when they hit the stairs. When they hit the basement level he almost felt like he was coming home.  
He was surprised to see the guard sitting outside the door already.  
“Is everything… secure?” Connor asked him, a hint of amusement in his tone.  
The guard nodded and opened the cell door. Connor pulled on the chain, indicating for Taylor to enter. Taylor gave him a glance before walking in, immediately freezing at the new addition to the cell. Before he could control himself, he began to hyperventilate.


	100. 100

“I guess this was a rather unexpected revelation. Forgive me, but I wanted to surprise you,” Connor mused, keeping a good hold on the chain but also taking hold of the top of the gag as Taylor struggled to breathe.  
“I think he’s surprised,” Nate muttered condescendingly, “so unless you want him to suffocate you’d better get that thing off him.”  
“No, I think not,” Connor assured, massaging Taylor’s temple with his thumb.  
Taylor ended up leaning against the side wall, closing his eyes as he tried to control the panic attack. He didn’t register the guard coming into the cell and readying his chains.  
“You see Nathan, Taylor here has a punishment to endure. And the last thing I need is the two of you conspiring against me before your inevitable deaths.”  
“Ouch,” Nate’s eyebrows rose, his tone showing just how much he cared about Connor’s words.  
Connor waited patiently until Taylor had his breathing under control. It took some time, because every time Taylor tried to open his eyes he’d panic at the very sight of Nate. When he finally pulled himself together enough that he could manage not to, Connor let his head go and passed the chain to the guard.  
The guard looped the chain through where it had previously been, before cuffing Taylor’s hands into the shackles once again. He was instructed to sit so that his ankles could be fastened, and as he did so Connor made his way over to where Nate was chained in a similar fashion on the other side of the heater.  
Taylor tried his best to ignore them completely, silently praying that Connor would gag him too.  
“To say you’ve been a nuisance since your infamous jail break would be so much of an understatement it would be barely recognisable,” Connor’s eyes narrowed.  
“Skip the speech,” Nate drawled, “I already got it on the way in. Nice to see Bill’s doing well by the way, I thought for sure you would have offed him a long time ago.”  
“Hmm,” Connor smirked, “I can’t say it hasn’t crossed my mind.”  
The guard locked the last shackle onto Taylor’s left ankle before standing to leave the cell. Taylor pulled himself back into the corner, practically trying to meld himself with the wall and pretend he wasn’t there.  
“So what’s the plan?” Nate asked, “obviously, you want both of us dead. Just gonna leave us here and set the building on fire or something?”  
“Nothing so crude,” Connor scorned, “besides, I’ve taken a little shine to Taylor.”  
“Taylor’s taken,” Taylor shivered as he registered Nate’s tone change to one of warning.  
“Yes… he is,” Connor mused.  
He turned away from Nate, staring at Taylor for a moment. Taylor opened his eyes when he felt Connor’s on him, but didn’t move.  
Without another word, Connor left the cell. The guard closed and locked the door behind him, Connor waiting to make sure it was secure.  
“Call me immediately if anything comes up,” Connor ordered, “otherwise I want you to ignore them. No matter what.”  
At the guard’s agreement, Connor left. Taylor took deep breaths, keeping his eyes closed and telling himself over and over that he was alone in the cell.  
“Taylor?” he jumped at Nate’s voice, “are you okay?”  
Taylor just groaned and put his head in his hands, trying to block him out.


	101. 101

“Zac?”  
Zac looked up when Victor said his name. He’d been playing with his food, lost in thought.  
“You okay?” Victor’s eyebrows rose, “you’ve barely touched anything.”  
“Just got a lot on my mind,” Zac winced, stabbing some meat with his fork and slipping it into his mouth.  
“Probably what Fowler has in store for him after his screw up today,” Nigel chortled.  
Zac stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He knew it would only set Nigel off.  
“I don’t know. He doesn’t seem worried,” Victor pointed out, making Nigel pay more attention.  
Zac looked up to see Fowler’s son staring at him in a very uncomfortable way. He returned the look for a moment before glancing at Victor and returning to his food.  
“He wants me to go back after,” he revealed before filling his mouth again.  
“Back where? After what?” Victor frowned.  
“To see him,” Zac replied once he’d swallowed, “after dinner.”  
“You got an audience with Fowler?”  
Zac could sense the scowl on Nigel’s face even without looking toward him. He chose to ignore it.  
“Apparently,” he answered Victor instead.  
Nigel suddenly dropped his spoon into his stew and stood from the table. Both Zac and Victor watched as he took the bowl with him through one of the far doorways.  
Sharing an awkward glance, they got back to eating.  
When Zac was done he cautiously headed back for Fowler’s office. He could sense Victor’s eyes on his back as he made his way through, the slightly older man obviously curious as to what was going on. Or what had prompted such an invitation.  
Zac knocked on the door and waited. Fowler called him in, and he made brief eye contact with Victor before closing the door behind him.  
“Take a seat,” Fowler offered.  
Zac hesitated, but stepped over to the desk and took up the chair in front of it. Fowler was standing behind the desk, looking over some paperwork through dusty spectacles. When nothing was said for a moment, Zac began twiddling his thumbs.  
“So… from our end of things, you seemed to have a lot of influence over the Creeds,” he began almost nervously.  
Fowler made a grunt of approval, continuing what he was doing.  
“I just mean… it took one phone call to get me off the kill list. I guess I just don’t see why you couldn’t do that for Taylor. I know you said you were too late to ‘save’ him because Ramirez got to him first, but… that was a long time ago. How about now?”  
“Unfortunately your brother has made his bed and must now lie in it,” Fowler said absently, “before he killed Ryan, perhaps it may have been possible. But not now.”  
“And Isaac?” Zac’s eyebrows rose, “you didn’t even know he was in training? Could you pull him out before someone… before someone takes him?”  
Fowler stopped what he was doing and looked over his glasses at him.   
“I wouldn’t worry too much about Isaac,” he insisted.  
“Why not?” Zac frowned, “he’s the wildcard in this. Anything could happen to him.”  
“And anything did,” Fowler relented, “I did some catching up today. Your eldest brother is safely back in the Pentagon.”


	102. 102

“The Pentagon?” Zac repeated, taking a moment to digest it.  
“Yes,” Fowler responded, “it appears Seth is also in the custody of the military. The same members who raided my house, no doubt.”  
“Sorry about that,” Zac winced a little, trying desperately not to give away that it was probably going to happen again.  
They just needed to find Taylor now.  
“It’s not your fault. Not entirely.”  
Fowler sighed, putting the papers down onto the desk. He pulled his glasses off and rubbed at his eyes before taking a seat.  
“I’m kind of… afraid to ask…” Zac began cautiously as Fowler stifled a yawn, “but what exactly are your plans for me?”  
“What do you mean?” Fowler frowned.  
“I mean…” Zac leant forward, hugging himself, “I’m grateful and everything that you took me away from the Creeds… but what now? Am I just supposed to stay here and hunt every morning for the rest of my life?”  
“I haven’t figured out the logistics yet, I’ll admit,” Fowler shrugged, “but it’s true that you can’t simply just go home.”  
“Why not hand me over to the military?” Zac suggested, “they kept me safe before, they could do it again.”  
“No,” Fowler shook his head, “if the Creeds were to find out – which they would – it jeopardises my running contract with them.”  
“But why do you need it?” Zac frowned, “why do you even have Victor here? No offence intended, but in talking, you don’t really seem like the kind of guy who would keep slaves as a regular thing.”  
Fowler couldn’t help but smile.  
“I’m glad you think that way of me,” he offered, “but it just isn’t true.”  
“Why not?” Zac asked innocently, “you do realise that it’s something you can change, right?”  
Fowler gave him an amused look, tapping his fingertips on the wooden desk.   
“But why would I want to?” he asked just as innocently.  
Zac hesitated at that, before sitting back in his chair. He was suddenly a lot more conscious of the collar around his throat.   
“You’re not letting me go,” he realised, “you’re not letting me go anywhere. I’m stuck here, aren’t I?”  
“Consider it for your own protection,” Fowler shrugged.  
“If you wanted to protect me, all you had to do was hand me over to the Pentagon,” Zac scowled.  
“Because that worked so well last time,” Fowler pointed out, “at least here? There’s no way your brothers can be used against you. As far as the Creeds are concerned you are where you’re supposed to be.”  
“Exactly,” Zac’s frown didn’t waver, “but I’m still a slave. So what’s the difference? Really?”  
Fowler continued tapping his fingers, regarding Zac seriously.  
“Nigel is not to know about this,” he insisted, “but in all honesty I was hoping to ingrate you more as a member of the family than as a servant.”  
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Zac whispered, rubbing his face tiredly.  
Fowler frowned at that.


	103. 103

Taylor was moaning to himself, trying to block out Nate’s voice. His hands had moved down to cover his ears, but the otherwise silence in the dungeon meant he could hear him anyway.  
He didn’t want to hear a word Nate said. With the way he was chained he knew he couldn’t reach him, but the last thing he needed right now was to be taunted. Or spoken to as if Nate still owned him.  
He knew he couldn’t keep it up forever, but after some time he noticed Nate had finally fallen quiet. Refusing to open his eyes, he assumed Nate had finally given up on trying to talk to him. Glad for the silence, he finally pulled his hands from his ears and put his head in his hands again. He needed to try and get some sleep.  
The next thing he knew, someone was touching him on the shoulder. He jumped at the touch, and when he looked up and saw Nate standing beside him he began to panic again.  
“Calm down,” Nate insisted, kneeling in front of him with his hand still on Taylor’s shoulder, “please. You need to let me help you.”  
Taylor frowned at that, struggling to catch his breath. When Nate saw that he wasn’t planning on co-operating for the time being, he reached out and took hold of Taylor’s right ankle.  
Taylor flinched back, but Nate already had it. As he groaned in protest Nate looked over the damage to his foot with a scowl, before producing a small length of wire which he began to use on the padlock.  
Realising Nate was freeing him, Taylor tried harder to pull himself together. Nate had the padlock off in no time and started to feed the chain through so Taylor was no longer attached to the wall. While he was distracted, Taylor dug up one of his hidden stakes.  
Hiding it in his jean pocket just in time, he frowned when he realised Nate wasn’t planning to free his wrists. Or his neck. Or his other foot.  
“Sit tight,” Nate whispered, putting a finger to his lips before turning back to the door.  
Taylor frowned, wondering what he was doing, before he started yelling.  
“HEY!” he called, “Taylor’s choking on this damn gag! Someone better get in here or Connor’s gonna be pissed!”  
Taylor heard the guard outside curse as Nate indicated for Taylor to make some noise. Taylor didn’t have time to decide whether to go along with it or not before they heard the door unlocking.  
Nate backed away so he’d be behind it when it opened, and managed to stay out of sight when it did. The guard paused in the doorway when he saw Taylor – not choking at all – and by the time he realised he wasn’t entirely restrained Nate had grabbed him from the side. Before he could even fight back, Nate had swiftly broken the man’s neck. As the body fell to his feet, Nate sighed.  
“Alrighty then,” he said to himself, bending over the guard and checking his pockets.  
Taylor closed his eyes again. He had no idea how Nate expected to get out of this base in one piece.  
“He doesn’t have the keys to the gag,” Nate grunted, “but we have the next best thing.”  
Taylor opened his eyes in time to see Nate flip open a switchblade, and immediately thought back to the cabin where he’d used one on him multiple times.  
He tried to hold himself still as Nate came for him, but felt himself shaking as Nate took hold of one side of the gag and began trying to cut through the leather. It took some time but he managed to break through, and as soon as he did he went back to retrieve the guard’s gun.  
Taylor ripped the gag from his head before struggling to his feet.  
“Nate… what the Hell?!” he hissed, using the chains to hold himself up.


	104. 104

“We’re getting out of here, duh,” Nate scorned, “come on. We need to move.”  
“This is your rescue plan? Really?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose.  
“Got a better idea?” Nate armed the gun, watching Taylor’s nervous reaction with interest.  
“I know a back way out of here. This is in case we run into anyone,” he held up the gun, “but the priority is getting out. We can deal with Connor later. I have the route ready to go, so let’s move!”  
“Nate the last time I was talked into trusting you,” Taylor began cautiously, “I ended up on the Butcher’s table.”  
Nate hesitated at that. After a moment, he sighed.  
“I’m sorry for that, really,” he insisted, “I didn’t expect them to catch on so quick. But we can do the catch up thing later. If you decide to stay in here while I leave, what do you think Connor’s gonna do to you when he realises I’m gone?”  
Taylor gulped at that and lowered his eyes. Nate had a point.  
But deciding which was the worse fate wasn’t as easy as Nate made it out to be.  
“Come on!” Nate insisted, walking to the door regardless.  
Taylor took a deep breath, before ducking over to his jacket. No rat scampered away when he pulled it up, tucking it into the back of his jeans so he didn’t have to worry about having his hands full on the way out. By the time he left the cell Nate was halfway down the corridor. It wasn’t easy with one ankle still chained, but aside from having to hunch over a little he managed to follow Nate to the stairs and upward.  
They didn’t meet anyone until Nate pulled him back into an indent by the door to the cells. There was a patrolling guard heading in the other direction, but Taylor knew if he moved they’d hear his chains.  
Nate carefully pulled the gun from his shoulder and took aim. With a single shot the man went down, blood spraying from the back of his head.  
“Now we need to be quick,” Nate insisted.  
Taylor caught the meaning, knowing the shot would have been heard. They picked up the pace, Nate leading Taylor up to the open level and pausing at the door to look through the window.  
He paused, ducking at least once, before carefully opening the door. By the time he pulled Taylor through there was no one in sight.  
Instead of going to the right which Taylor knew led up to Connor’s apartment, they turned left. Nate opened the first door they came to, and Taylor was surprised to find them in an outside courtyard already.  
Nate again indicated for Taylor to be quiet with a finger to his lips, and once he received Taylor’s nod of recognition he began out across the yard. It was easy enough to hide in the shadows, the sun having obviously been down for some time.   
Taylor saw the barb-topped wire fence long before they got to it. But like Chadron, there was a hole just about the right size which Nate held up for him. Once they were through, Nate directed him into the surrounding trees, seeming to know where he was going.  
“Where are we?” Taylor asked when he thought they were far enough away.  
“Keep your voice down until we’re clear,” Nate insisted.  
Taylor looked back. He could only just make out the lights of the compound through the trees, but did as Nate asked anyway. He was technically still chained, and Nate was armed.  
It wasn’t long before they hit a river, and Taylor froze on the bank as Nate dived in.


	105. 105

“Nate!” Taylor hissed, glancing precariously over his shoulder.  
Nate turned back in the water.  
“What?!”  
“Nate I can’t!” Taylor insisted, holding up what he could of the chains.  
“I’m not going to let you drown,” Nate insisted, “come on! It’s not far from the other side.”  
“What isn’t?” Taylor demanded, “where are you taking me this time?!”  
“A motel,” Nate relented, “I swear. It’s just a motel. I booked a room as soon as I knew you were here. I’ve been planning this for days.”  
“I’m sure you have,” Taylor muttered under his breath, looking over his shoulder again.  
“I’ll hold you up, just get in!” Nate insisted.  
“Just take the chains off! I know you can,” Taylor frowned.  
“There’s no time. Seriously,” Nate insisted, “just _get in_!”  
Taylor took a moment to psych himself up, before starting down into the water. Nate met him by the time the water was up to his chest, and he took hold of the chain just below the collar. Taylor blanched at first before realising he was purposely holding it up.  
“Don’t choke me,” his voice shook as he tried to spread his hands as far as he could.  
“Just try and float,” Nate insisted, feeling the strain with the iron weight already.  
Taylor let himself be pulled along, struggling not to grab onto the chain himself knowing it would just add to the weight. They were going alright until they hit about the centre of the river and Taylor went under. The chains slipped from Nate’s grasp and Taylor panicked as he felt himself sink.  
He quickly tried to guess how deep the river was. Considering they were almost at the centre he didn’t like his chances of being able to hit the bottom and launch himself up again. He began to realise he hadn’t taken a breath before he’d gone under when he felt Nate grab the chain and pull him up to the surface. When they broke he gasped for air and reached out with his hands for Nate’s.  
“Breathe!” Nate insisted as Taylor struggled to keep his head above the water.  
“I’m trying!” he choked out, feeling himself being pulled along faster.  
When his feet finally hit ground, Nate let the chains go. Once he was up far enough he fell to his knees on the bank and tried to catch his breath.   
“We need to keep moving,” he felt Nate’s hand on his shoulder.  
Taylor managed to pull himself to his feet, stopping to check that he still had his jacket with him before following where Nate led into the trees on this side. A glance backward showed that they still weren’t being followed.  
It was a longer walk through these trees, but they soon came to a highway. Staying away from the road itself so they couldn’t be seen, they walked the edge of the tree line until they came across the roadside motel Nate had mentioned. Taylor contemplated multiple times if he should just try and wave down a car, but again he didn’t have a great history when it came to that.  
Nate led him around the back to a section of trees with some loose dirt. Taylor watched as he started digging.  
He soon unearthed a drawstring bag before throwing the weapons he’d picked up at the base into the hole instead. After quickly covering it over again, he opened the bag and revealed a motel key.  
“Okay,” he nodded to Taylor, “let’s be quick so no one sees you.”  
Taylor frowned at that, but followed him around the side of the building. Nate quickly unlocked the door of the second room down, ushering him inside before closing and locking it behind them.


	106. 106

“I’ll get you a towel,” Nate ducked into the bathroom as Taylor looked around.  
He purposely stayed off the carpet by the beds, knowing he was still dripping wet. He pulled his jacket from where he’d tucked it into his belt and set it over a chair before Nate returned, handing him a towel before reaching up to turn the heater on.  
“Thanks,” Taylor murmured, quickly using it to dry himself off.  
He wouldn’t have any luck with his jeans, but hopefully the heater would eventually take care of that. He certainly couldn’t get them off with the shackle still on his left ankle.  
He used the towel to soak as much water from them as he could before setting it on the floor to catch the drips from his jacket (and to soak up the water where he’d been too). Nate had pulled a duffel from under the larger bed and was rummaging through it.  
“We can’t stay here,” Taylor suddenly insisted, moving to stand in front of the heater, “we need to keep moving.”  
“If we take off now they’ll find us on the highway,” Nate didn’t bother lifting his eyes, “better to lay low until morning.”  
Taylor’s mind raced as he looked towards the door.  
“I don’t know that that’s such a good idea,” he shook his head.  
His eyes shot back to Nate when he realised he was coming for him.  
“You want the chains off?” his eyebrows rose.  
Taylor’s eyes locked to his, trying to make sure he wasn’t just humouring him. He was already getting mixed signals, and he was having enough trouble thinking straight. By the time he thought of questioning, Nate was standing in front of him expectantly.  
Taylor gulped slightly before raising his wrists. By the time he saw the cable ties in Nate’s hands it was too late – Nate had looped them through the padlocks on the shackles and pulled it tight.  
“NO!” Taylor darted out from under him.   
He almost tripped on the loose shackle as Nate grabbed the chain to his collar, pulling down on it so that Taylor had to bend over.  
“Nate! Please!” he started begging, “we can’t stay here! Connor will find us!”  
He hit his knees and Nate pushed him back into the wall. He hit his head and groaned dazedly for a moment before feeling Nate go for his ankles. Another cable tie was looped through the padlock still on the left and fastened carefully around his right ankle.  
“Nate-“  
“Be quiet,” Nate scorned, “you’re not going anywhere tonight.”  
“You’re making a mistake!” Taylor exclaimed as the stars cleared from his vision.  
Nate scoffed and turned away, making his way back to the duffel on the bed. Taylor turned onto his side before trying to push his back up against the wall.  
“Do you even get what he was trying to do to me?!” he frowned, “he’s decided – much like everyone else – that he wants me for himself.”  
“I got that,” Nate muttered, pulling a pillowcase from one of the pillows and grabbing some tape.  
Taylor blanched, knowing his time was running out.  
“Do you really think after Seth finding us in the middle of nowhere that Connor couldn’t find us barely a couple of miles away?!” he continued as Nate knelt in front of him.  
“Leave it to me,” Nate insisted, ripping enough tape to go over Taylor’s mouth.  
“But you’re forgetting-!”


	107. 107

Taylor tried not to panic. Not only had Nate used the pillowcase as a makeshift hood, but he’d made sure Taylor couldn’t get it off by fastening it with a cable tie around his neck. He hadn’t realised what he’d done at first, but he was soon thinking back to when Nate almost killed him with one.  
He concentrated on taking deep and steady breaths through his nose, glad the pillowcase was old and thin. His hearing locked onto Nate’s movements as Taylor heard him take a shower and get himself ready for bed.  
Hoping he’d have more time to think once Nate passed out, he tried to keep still as long as he could. He wasn’t in a very comfortable position – the cable ties holding his wrists and ankles fast, and an additional tie holding his wrists against what he assumed was the leg of a table.   
When he finally heard Nate settling down, he concentrated on listening to the man’s breathing. He was confident he remembered from the cabin roughly how long it took Nate to get to sleep, and that he’d recognise the man’s sleeping patterns. He also remembered that Nate was a very light sleeper and he’d have to be careful if he tried anything.  
Considering the tracer was well and truly still buried in his arm, he knew he’d have to try.  
He waited as long as he could bear before his fingertips began exploring the pillowcase. He managed to pinch a piece of the fabric at his eyebrow and carefully rub it between his fingers to test the strength. Finding the material weak it wasn’t long before he broke through with his fingernail.  
Once he’d made a slit he managed to tear it enough that he could see through with one eye. When he saw Nate presumably fast asleep, he carefully ripped the material further, soon able to pull it over his head and slowly remove the tape from his mouth. It was hard to stay quiet as the tape got caught in his beard, but he knew the risk involved and remembered Connor’s earlier orders.  
Finally able to breathe easier, he cast his eyes toward Nate again. He remained asleep so far. Keeping a vigilant watch on him, Taylor slowly lay himself down onto his back while being careful not to let the chains rattle around him. When he was down he was barely able to reach his jacket with his feet, and though it stung his right foot he was able to take hold of the leather and pull it down to the floor.  
Pausing to make sure the sound of it dropping didn’t wake Nate, he slowly pulled it toward himself. Once it was close enough he pulled his hands down to the floor and took one of the sleeves, feeling along the line of stitching for a loose thread.  
It didn’t take long to find and he pulled it free. At the end of the string was a thin wire. One more check to make sure Nate was out, and Taylor began using the wire on the padlock on his right wrist.  
Along with teaching the brothers self-defence in a physical way, Devon and the team had taught them a few other tricks as well. One of those tricks… was picking locks.  
Taylor had the lock undone surprisingly fast, and unlooped the cable ties from it before quietly placing it onto the floor. He quickly leant forward to start work on the one on his ankle, also having it off in no time.  
He opted to leave the one on his left wrist and the one on the collar in favour of escaping faster. The sound of a car pulling up to a room just outside gave him hope he’d be able to attract attention fast.  
Taylor slipped the wire into one of his pockets, happy to discard the jacket for now. He leant against the table to pull himself to his feet, unable to stop the chains rattling at the movement.  
His eyes shot to Nate as he rolled over in bed, his own eyes flickering open and shut. It took a moment to register anything, but they soon flew open again.  
Taylor bolted for the door, fumbling with the lock before feeling Nate’s hand take the collar.


	108. 108

Taylor choked as Nate pulled him back into the room, throwing him onto the floor with surprising strength for someone newly awoken.  
“Nate no!” Taylor choked out, scrambling backwards as he came for him again.  
“I told you to stay!” Nate was fuming, “how did you get out?!”  
“Nate, please!” Taylor was holding his hands out in surrender but kicking himself back with his feet.  
He soon hit the wall to the bathroom and couldn’t go any further.  
“I swear to God I don’t care if you take me, but we _need_ to leave!”  
Nate paused with a frown. In the short moment of silence Taylor’s attention was caught by a shadow passing by the window. When they stopped at their door, he felt a chill creep down his spine.  
“Nate?” he whispered, making Nate turn.  
The door suddenly buckled. Nate went for his duffel as Taylor just stared at it, praying it was anyone but Connor on the other side.  
Nate soon reappeared with Ryan’s golden gun, arming it as he stood over Taylor’s legs. Two more hits and the door came down, Taylor’s brow furrowing when he saw that it had been Jack on the other side.  
Jack paused at the sight of the gun before stepping aside from the door. Connor walked in from behind him, a darkened glare in his eyes.  
“Connor!” Nate greeted, “long time no see!”  
“Nathan,” Connor almost growled, “what are you doing here?”  
“Well I _was_ trying to get some sleep…” Nate shrugged, “but apparently no one in this room is going to let me.”  
Taylor blanched as Connor’s eyes fell to him.  
“Apparently not,” he agreed, “however you’re welcome to take some time out in my dungeon for yourself. If you’d be so kind as to follow me home.”  
“Oh I don’t think I’ll be doing that,” Nate shook his head, suddenly leaning down to grab hold of Taylor’s collar again.  
Taylor grimaced as he was pulled to his feet. The next time he looked up he saw Connor training a gun on Nate.  
“Stay in here,” Nate shoved him back into the bathroom, “while the grownups see our marriage counsellor.”  
Taylor rubbed his neck as Nate let go, looking up to see (and hear) Nate close and lock the bathroom door.  
He ducked back over to it to listen to the confrontation.  
“You’ve done some stupid things before Nathan…” Connor began, “but this really does take the cake. Did you really just forget about the tracer in Taylor’s arm?”  
Taylor gulped slightly, running the palm of his right hand along the scar as he looked around the bathroom. He didn’t hear Nate’s reply as his eyes fell on the window in the toilet.  
He started over to it, quickly putting the seat down and climbing up. The window was certainly big enough, but it wasn’t one that could open very far.  
Trying to think quickly as he heard both Nate and Connor’s voices raise, he took another look around the bathroom. Not finding anything to help him, he suddenly eyed off the loose shackle hanging from the chains. He’d managed to get the ankle ones off, but this one was attached still.  
Taking hold of it in his right hand he hit it against the window as hard as he could. It shattered.


	109. 109

Taylor used the cuff to push the pieces of glass outside, trying to get all the broken pieces so that he wouldn’t cut himself on the way out. Trying to be as quick as he could in case the three men in the room had heard, he had to jump when he heard the first gunshot ring out.  
Apparently they were too busy to notice what he was doing.  
When he had the majority of the glass cleared he launched himself up onto the cistern and pulled himself headfirst through the window. He landed hard on the ground outside, already feeling glass shards cutting into his bare skin. Trying to ignore the pain he quickly pulled himself to his feet and ran.  
When he made it to the edge of the building he paused and took a careful look around the corner. He had no way of knowing if Connor and Jack were alone or not, and the prospect was unlikely to say the least. Not with Nate involved.  
Finding the coast clear to duck between some of the rooms, he made his way to the front of the building. When he looked around this corner he saw both a dark courier van and a golden 1993 Lincoln parked outside the room with the broken door.  
He took a moment to stop and take a deep breath, making sure he was thinking clearly and not about to do something stupid. He could see the motel reception from where he was, but there’d be no way of getting there out in the open without whoever was manning the cars noticing.  
The chains were a bit of a giveaway.  
He took another look around the corner as two more gunshots sounded before starting to back away. He had to try and get around the back side of the rooms between where he was and the reception.  
He hesitated when he got to the back of the building again, looking back in the direction he’d come from. He debated whether or not he should go back and dig up the gun Nate had stolen. He soon decided he was wasting too much time while running from people armed with guns and took off toward the reception once again.  
He made it to a side door which he found locked. Stopping to gather himself again, he slipped around to the front and eyed the vehicles off in the distance. He couldn’t see anyone in them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.  
Taking another deep breath he suddenly bolted for the main glass doors and ducked inside. Turning to lock them behind him he didn’t see the odd stares he was getting from people in the adjoining restaurant before he ran to the desk.  
“Excuse me, sorry,” he blurted out to the receptionist, “I need to use your phone!”  
The young man blanched when he looked up, taking in the sight of the half-naked, badly scarred, and in some places still bleeding man before him. When Taylor didn’t get a response he reached over the counter himself and grabbed the receiver.  
“Hey!” the man objected, “I’ll call the police for you, just give me a sec!”  
“We don’t need the police,” Taylor insisted as he dialled, “we need the army.”  
As the call went through he finally took a look around. There were five people in the restaurant, including an older couple, a younger couple and a middle-aged man. He didn’t know what to say to them so he said nothing.  
“This is Sergeant Major Andrews.”  
“Andrews!” Taylor could have clutched the phone, “this is Taylor Hanson. I’m at a motel with Connor Creed and Nate Devereux. They’re in a fight to the death and whoever wins is coming after me.”


	110. 110

“Where are you?” was the first thing Andrews asked.  
“I don’t know, hang on,” Taylor began to frantically look about the desk for anything that would tell him where he was.  
He soon found a pile of business cards, and after getting a nod from the receptionist he relayed the information down the phone.   
“I believe that’s close to Salamanca,” Andrews responded, “we have crews on the ground near there. I’ll have them meet you at the motel. Just stay where you are.”  
“I don’t know if that’s going to be an option,” Taylor kept his eye on the door, “Connor’s out for blood. They’re both armed, and they have cars ready to take us back.”  
“Can you describe the cars?” Andrews sounded like he was on the move.  
“One’s a standard black van,” Taylor shrugged, “the other’s a golden Lincoln. Please Andrews, hurry!”  
He heard him pull away from the phone to bark an order at someone.   
“Taylor can you arm yourself?”  
“I don’t think so,” Taylor had another quick look around before his eyes fell on the receptionist, “do you have a gun or anything?”  
“No man,” the guy shook his head, still not entirely sure what was going on.  
“There’s nothing here,” Taylor said into the phone, before his eyes fell on the younger couple trying to sneak out.  
The guy tried the door and found it locked.  
“Don’t go out there!” Taylor exclaimed, making them jump.  
The girl clutched her boyfriend’s arm, frightened.  
“Please!” Taylor added, trying not to scare them too much, “there’s some very dangerous men out there. We need to stay here!”  
“How many hostages are there?” came Andrews’ voice.  
“They’re not… there’s just people here in the restaurant where I’m calling from,” Taylor tried to explain, “I don’t know what’s going on outside but there’s been shots fired. I’m expecting one of them down any second now. If it’s Nate we might have some time, but not if it’s Connor.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“The tracer is still active,” Taylor admitted.  
He heard Andrews curse before yelling more orders into the background.  
“We have soldiers on their way to you from Salamanca and Randolph.”  
“ETA?” Taylor’s brow furrowed.  
“Five to ten,” Andrews promised as Taylor caught sight of a shadow pass by one of the windows.  
Feeling a familiar dread building in his gut, he dropped the phone onto the counter and ducked around behind it before taking it up again.  
“He’s here,” Taylor whispered, falling to a sit behind the desk.  
“Who is?” Andrews asked as Taylor saw the receptionist watching the door.  
A gunshot echoed through the lobby and the rainfall of shattering glass followed. The young woman screamed. Taylor heard determined footsteps walking over the glass, coming towards the desk.  
“Where is he?” he heard Connor’s voice.  
“Who?” the receptionist asked fearfully.  
Taylor’s eyes widened, and he looked up in time to see the receptionist get shot in the head.


	111. 111

The room fell silent, aside from frightened whimpers coming from the woman over the other side. Taylor kept the phone to his ear, afraid to even breathe too loud in case Connor worked out where he was.  
The crunching of broken glass could be heard as Connor moved away from the desk, and Taylor’s eyes fell to the right as he prayed he wouldn’t come around the counter.  
“I wonder if any of you would be able to help me…” he heard him begin.  
Taylor closed his eyes, knowing someone was going to give him up eventually. He regretted not going along with Andrews’ hostage situation theory already.  
“Please don’t hurt us,” he heard the woman cry softly.  
“Hurt you?” Connor sounded surprised, “oh I’m not going to hurt you. But I will kill you if no one gives me what I want.”  
Taylor grit his teeth as the room fell eerily silent again. They could hear vehicles moving outside, and Taylor was sure the loudest thing in the room was his heartbeat.  
Andrews remained quiet on the other end of the line, obviously having cottoned onto what was happening.  
Taylor remained breathing steadily and quietly, but he started to wonder what Connor was doing. He wasn’t moving because Taylor would have heard the glass tell, and if he was somehow trying to intimidate the hostages he figured he would have heard more from them in either horror or protest.  
There was absolutely no warning before he felt a hand grab him by the hair and pull him up. He yelped in shock as he dropped the phone, struggling to find his feet.  
“Get out here,” Connor sneered, pulling him around the counter and throwing him down onto the floor.  
Taylor hit the ground on his side, grimacing as he felt the glass already in his skin sinking deeper with the impact. He darted a quick look over to the hostages – they all seemed fine – before turning onto his back and facing Connor.  
“Did you really think you could run from me?” Connor armed his gun, though he spoke with pity.  
“I didn’t, I swear,” Taylor barely got out, eyes on the gun as he tried to back away.  
Connor lowered the gun to point at him and he froze.  
“I suppose you’re going to tell me it was all Nate, and you had nothing to do with it?” he suggested.  
“Why would I run?” Taylor frowned incredulously, “I know you’ll find me wherever I go!”  
“Who’s on the phone?” Connor indicated with the gun.  
“The army,” Taylor replied honestly, “they know where we are.”  
“Then I guess we’d better deal with this quickly,” Connor took a few steps closer, aiming the gun for Taylor’s forehead, “give my regards to Ryan.”  
Taylor gulped and was about to close his eyes before they caught movement behind him. At Taylor’s frown, Connor turned.  
Nate stood in the doorway. His forehead was bleeding and he appeared to be missing part of his left ear, but he still had hold of Ryan’s golden gun. Before he could raise it to aim for Connor, Connor leant down and grabbed Taylor by the hair again.  
“On your knees,” he ordered, Taylor hissing through his teeth as he complied.  
“Let him go,” Nate demanded, finally having the gun aimed but obviously having trouble focusing.  
Taylor didn’t like the odds.  
“As you said earlier,” Connor’s lips curved, “I don’t think I’ll be doing that.”


	112. 112

“Connor I _will_ shoot you,” Nate promised, “you’re not Ryan.”  
“Nathan please,” Connor scorned, “you’re barely vertical. I doubt you could successfully shoot anything right now.”  
Nate aimed and fired. The bullet hit the wall behind them, and Connor didn’t even flinch. Taylor squeezed his eyes shut, praying Nate wouldn’t accidentally shoot him instead.  
“See?” Connor shrugged.  
Nate grunted, lowering his weapon. Taylor noticed at this point that he was also cradling his left arm.  
“That’s better,” Connor nodded before giving Taylor’s hair a sharp tug.  
Taylor hissed again, grabbing for Connor’s arm. He didn’t let up.  
“Now, Taylor here has been on the phone to the authorities,” Connor informed Nate, “and apparently they are aware of our location. So we need to leave. Abruptly.”  
“Take me,” Nate’s eyes were drooping with failing consciousness, “leave him here.”  
Taylor frowned at that as his eyes darted between them.  
“Why would I do that?” Connor also frowned, “ideally I should kill him here and take you regardless.”  
“You can’t kill him,” Nate suddenly had to lean on a table top for balance.  
Connor pulled on Taylor’s hair again, dragging him to his feet. He soon felt the gun nestled under his jaw.  
“I’d rethink that statement,” Connor mused, “who’s going to stop me? …You?”  
Taylor gulped again, trying his hardest not to panic. If Nate wasn’t going to get them out of this, their only chance was him.  
He finally managed to let go of Connor’s arm and let his hands fall to his sides.  
“I thought you wanted revenge?” Nate was at least trying to keep him talking, “what kind of piss poor revenge is this?”  
Connor scowled and Taylor felt his grip tighten. He begged Nate in his mind not to make him angry.  
“Perhaps I’m done with revenge,” Connor suggested, “perhaps I’ve moved on to justice.”  
Taylor kept his eyes down, trying to work out where Connor had his eyes. His left hand was slowly snaking around toward his back pocket.  
“Justice,” Nate smirked, “is that what the kids are calling it these days?”  
He turned his back on the table and hung his head. With his submissive stance, Taylor felt Connor release his hair a little. Not enough for Taylor to break away, but enough to be noticeable.  
He couldn’t help but breathe easier as the gun was pulled away from his throat.  
“You’re both coming home with me,” Connor insisted, “we’ll sort this scuffle out once we’re safely indoors.”  
Taylor groaned as Connor gave his hair another tug.  
“And don’t think you’ve gotten out of your part in this, either,” he assured.  
“No Sir,” Taylor agreed, having taken the opportunity through Connor’s movement to grab onto the stake still in his back pocket.  
A quick sighting of the gun at Connor’s side was all he needed before he twisted the sharp metal into his right hand and plunged it backward into Connor’s chest. Connor instantly raised the gun, but having seen where it was Taylor was able to deflect it. As Connor fell to his knees desperately grasping at the stake, Taylor dove for where the gun had fallen to the floor.


	113. 113

Connor was fuming as he struggled to pull the stake from the right side of his chest. Nate had barely registered what had happened before Taylor had the gun and was pointing it down at Connor.  
“Stay down!” Taylor ordered when he saw Connor start to pick himself up.  
Connor glared up at him, but paused.  
“You’re not going to shoot me, Taylor,” he said pointedly.  
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Taylor insisted, “I was further out than Nate when I killed Ryan so just you try me.”  
Connor’s glare darkened at the reference to his brother. Taylor stepped to the side so that he could get Nate in his peripheral, not trusting the man behind him. He hadn’t moved, but was watching intently. As Taylor had moved he’d seen a flash of incoming headlights out on the highway.  
“Taylor?” Nate caught his attention suddenly.  
“What?” Taylor demanded, tempted at this point to shoot him too.  
“You need to kill him,” Nate insisted.  
“I don’t want to kill anyone if I don’t have to!” Taylor exclaimed, “the army’s almost here, they’ll sort it out.”  
Movement from Connor caught his eye and he turned back and fired. The bullet hit the ground beside one of Connor’s legs, and Connor sneered.  
“Don’t try me,” Taylor glared.  
“What do you think the army’s going to do with him?” Nate pointed out.  
“Nathan…”  
“Shut up!” Taylor ordered.  
But the order was for Connor only, and Nate noticed.  
“They’re going to put him back in ADMAX,” Nate reasoned, “it’s the only thing they _can_ do with him, after an interrogation that probably won’t go so well.”  
Taylor hesitated, suddenly looking between them.  
“He just told you he doesn’t want to kill anyone,” Connor glared at Nate, “perhaps you don’t have as strong a hold on this one as you previously thought.”  
Taylor grit his teeth at that, looking up at the highway again. There was no sign of rescue which made him frown.  
“Taylor? Look at me,” Nate tried again.  
Taylor grimaced but made eye contact, keeping the gun trained on Connor.  
“We’ve been here already,” Nate insisted, “if the army get him he’s going to go to jail, and he’s going to be out again to continue on just as fast. He’ll come for you again. He’ll probably come for your family this time.”  
Taylor clenched the fist still chained, holding it in to his chest. He knew he was right. He just wished the army would hurry up so he wouldn’t have to make the choice.  
He regarded Connor, trying to decide if he could actually bring himself to do it. Connor stared back at him, as if daring him to try.  
“Just get it over with,” Nate insisted, “you’ll feel better once it’s done.”  
“That’s not true,” Taylor shook his head, “I didn’t feel that way when I saved Zac from Ryan.”  
“Me, Taylor,” Nate frowned, “you saved me.”  
“What?” Taylor’s brow furrowed again.  
“The gun wasn’t pointed at Zac,” Nate assured, “it was pointed at me. You saved me.”


	114. 114

“That’s a lie,” Taylor felt his heart start racing again, “I saw the gun on Zac. That’s the only reason I shot Ryan.”  
“I’m afraid our dear Nathan is telling the truth,” Connor offered – making Taylor turn back to him, “I saw the video footage. Ryan was about to kill Nate when you pulled the trigger.”  
Taylor looked between them again, shaking his head.  
“That’s not how I remember it,” his voice shook, knowing he couldn’t honestly remember much at all from that day.  
“I will gladly show you,” Connor assured, “if you would come home with me.”  
“If I go with you I’m dead!” Taylor exclaimed.  
His eyes darted back to Nate as the golden gun hit the table, Nate relinquishing his hold on it as he obviously felt faint.  
Taylor groaned to himself as he fought an internal battle. He put his head in his hands, pulling the gun away from Connor for the first time.  
“You know it’s the right thing to do,” Nate’s voice was getting raspy.  
“Order me to do it,” Taylor whispered.  
“Taylor?”  
“Order me to do it,” Taylor looked up at Nate, “and I will.”  
He was so caught up in the energy of the moment that he didn’t even notice the emergency vehicles pulling in to the motel.  
Nate looked across to Connor, who immediately began pulling himself from the floor.  
“Do it,” Nate ordered as forcefully as he was able to.  
Taylor looked back in time to see Connor get to his feet. Before the older man could lunge for him, Taylor pulled the trigger.  
Connor clutched at his chest, once again falling to his knees.  
“Drop the gun!” Taylor heard a shout from behind Nate.  
He turned to see a man in camouflage with a rifle pointed in his direction. Taylor immediately dropped the gun, raising his hands in surrender.  
He watched as Nate slid from the table, landing in a sit beside it.  
“Taylor?” the solder asked, two more suddenly flanking him.  
“Yeah,” Taylor’s voice still shook.  
The soldier lowered the weapon and made his way over. The one to his left saw to Nate, who appeared to have finally fainted.  
“We’ve got Devereux,” he reported into his radio.  
“And Creed-“ Taylor turned to point him out.  
He froze when he saw nothing but a slender blood trail leading to the back door.  
“No, no, no…” his eyes darted before he suddenly bolted for the door.  
“Taylor!” the soldier called after him as he opened it.  
Connor was nowhere in sight. Taylor couldn’t fathom how he’d gotten away so fast. A look back into the restaurant confirmed all five hostages were still there.  
“Connor was just here!” he called back to the soldier, “he can’t have gone far!”  
“We have the place surrounded,” the solider assured, “he’s not going to get anywhere.”  
“You had him surrounded at ADMAX,” Taylor scorned, “we’re in the middle of freaking nowhere, and his base is barely miles away.”


	115. 115

“Ike?”  
Isaac looked up from his phone. Over the past day or so he’d been trying to catch up with what he’d originally been trying to do in New York with Vance. It wasn’t working out so well, especially without either Taylor or Zac around to help.  
Devon had barely caught the doorway in his rush to find him.  
“We’ve got him,” Devon’s eyes flashed.  
“Who?” Isaac frowned.  
After the army had arrested Seth, they could have found anyone.  
“Taylor,” Devon grinned, soon disappearing again.  
“What?!”  
Isaac was up and bolting for the door.  
“Follow me!” Devon called over his shoulder, heading down to interrogation.  
Isaac paused only to put his phone away before taking off after him. They met with Jenkins in the room dedicated to tracking the vans, and Isaac was taken aback when he realised Andrews was there along with some heavily armed guards. Andrews gave him a nod of recognition before returning his attention to the big screen.  
“Do we have confirmation on Creed yet?” he demanded into an ear piece.  
“Creed?” Isaac fired at Devon, “he’s with Connor?”  
“He was,” Devon confirmed as he put his own headset on, “maybe not anymore.”  
“Creed’s in the wind,” Jenkins announced, “Devereux is in custody.”  
“Nate?!” Isaac darted forward to get a better look at the screens.  
There was a large birds-eye view of a dark building (it was still early hours) with heat signatures of multiple soldiers scattered. Windows on either side showed the view from headsets some of the soldiers were wearing, and there was also a map showing their location.  
“They stayed in New York?” Isaac frowned before catching a glimpse of Taylor in one of the helmet cam feeds.  
He breathed a sigh of relief that he seemed okay, but at the same time grimaced at the state of him.  
“They’re at a highway motel just west of Salamanca,” Devon replied absently before issuing orders through his headset for Nate to be detained in an armoured vehicle as soon as possible.  
Andrews was busy ordering the scatter of soldiers to track down Connor, who seemed to have disappeared.  
“Just hurry up and get Taylor in the damn van!” Devon suddenly exclaimed.  
“What’s going on?” Isaac was watching the blobs move on screen but couldn’t tell who was who.  
Devon sighed frustratedly as he pulled his microphone away.  
“Tay’s insisting on finding Connor himself,” he shook his head, “but our priority is to get him back here. Now.”  
“Can’t argue with that,” Isaac insisted as Devon got back to it.  
“Can you confirm that Taylor is in the van for me? …He what? Jones that’s not a good idea.”  
“What isn’t?” Isaac looked worried.  
“Just tell him to suck it up and get in the other one,” Devon was too far into the argument to respond, “fine! But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  
“What was that?” Isaac tried again once Devon ended that particular call.  
“Tay wanted to ride with Nate for whatever reason,” he replied, “don’t worry, he’s unconscious.”


	116. 116

“Tay wanted to ride with Nate?” Isaac frowned, “why?”  
“To make sure he stays in custody maybe?” Devon shrugged, “I don’t know. We won’t know what he’s been through – or Nate’s involvement – until they get back here.”  
“Just promise me Tay’s safe,” Isaac insisted.  
“He’s safe,” Devon assured, looking him in the eye, “he’s in the car with Nate and they’re already heading back here.”  
“Good,” Isaac went back to watching the screens, “then you need to call Zac in.”  
“One thing at a time,” Devon insisted, “right now we need to focus on Connor Creed.”  
“Can I get a line with Tay?”  
Devon hesitated, then looked across to Jenkins. Jenkins had obviously at least been half paying attention, and he gave Devon a thumbs up between following orders from Andrews.  
“Jones, you there?” Devon asked into his headset.  
He waited for confirmation.  
“Give your set to Taylor. His brother wants a word,” he ordered before taking his own headset and handing it to Isaac.  
Isaac kept his eyes on screen as he fitted it, moving the microphone across in front.  
“Ike?” came a static call.  
“Tay!” Isaac stepped aside to be out of the way of the soldiers, “are you okay?!”  
“I’m fine,” Taylor insisted, “just a bit sore. What about you? What happened to you?”  
“Don’t worry about me, nothing much happened,” Isaac insisted, “I was just training. We’ll talk when you get back.”  
There was a moment of silence before Isaac could hear talking in the background.  
“How’s Nat? Is she okay?” Taylor came back.  
“She’s fine, she’s going to be ecstatic when I tell her you’re coming home,” Isaac insisted.  
“Keep an eye on her for me,” Taylor sounded worried, “they haven’t found Connor and I don’t know what he’s gonna do.”  
“You think he’ll come after Nat?”  
“It came up,” Taylor admitted, “and I might have made him angrier by stabbing and shooting him.”  
“Wow,” Isaac took a moment to process, “way to go Tay.”  
“It wasn’t enough,” Taylor insisted, “he still walked away. Please, just watch them for me.”  
“I will, I will,” Isaac assured, “I’ll stay with them until you get here.”  
“Thanks Ike.”  
“It’s no problem,” Isaac eyed Devon, who was back to relaying orders.  
“Where’s Zac?” Taylor asked suddenly.  
“He’s still in Alaska,” Isaac replied, hearing Taylor curse, “they’ve promised to pull him out as soon as we know you’re safe.”  
“Pull him out?”  
“They know where he is,” Isaac explained, “they’re just waiting for the all clear to go after him.”  
“So I’m safe, go after him,” Taylor insisted.  
“They’re concentrating on Connor right now,” Isaac winced, “I think once they find him they’ll do it.”  
“Ike, they can’t work like that,” Taylor insisted, “tell them to get Zac. They can’t stake everything on finding Connor, he knows they’re after him and he’ll get underground as soon as he can.”  
Isaac cast a weary glance at Devon, knowing Taylor spoke the truth.


	117. 117

Taylor took a deep breath and sighed once he’d hung up from Isaac, handing the radio back to Jones.  
“Thanks,” he kept his eyes to Nate’s unconscious body on the gurney.  
“No worries,” the soldier replied, setting it back on his shoulder.  
Taylor grabbed onto his seat as the armoured vehicle suddenly turned a corner. There wasn’t a lot of room in the back, so his knees were crammed up against the gurney. Jones was a larger (though shorter) man and was having the same trouble on the other side.  
It wasn’t long before they heard a groan from the gurney.  
“Nate?” Taylor leant over slightly.  
Jones put out a hand to stop him.  
“Stay back,” he insisted with a warning look.  
Taylor nodded before returning his attention to the cuffed patient. Nate’s eyes barely slid open before he pulled on his restraints.  
“Where am I?” he groaned, closing his eyes again.  
“On the way to Washington,” Taylor informed him, giving Jones a glance to assure him he was fine to talk.  
“Taylor?” Nate frowned, finally forcing his eyes open to look up at him.  
“Yeah I’m here,” Taylor assured, “what did Connor do to you?”  
“He shot me. A couple of times,” Nate was staring now, though his left eye was squinting.  
Taylor put it down to the damage to that side of his head.  
“How far to Washington?” Taylor asked Jones.  
“Six hours,” the soldier replied.  
“Did you get him?” Nate asked Taylor.  
“I don’t think so,” Taylor replied regretfully, “I mean I shot him but I think he got away.”  
Nate groaned, leaning back onto the gurney again.  
“I’m sorry,” Taylor gulped slightly, making Jones frown.  
“It’s not me you’ll have to be sorry for,” Nate closed his eyes tiredly.  
Taylor felt his adrenaline starting to pump as he registered what Nate meant by that.  
“What do I do?” he asked softly, “Nate please, help me. I know you can stop this somehow.”  
“It’s too late,” Nate shook his head.  
“It can’t be,” Taylor insisted, “we have to be able to do something. You know where he is, right? You know where he might go. You need to tell us everything. You need to stop this for good.”  
Nate sighed. Taylor shot Jones a glance as he set his hand on his radio, not quite sure of the turn the conversation was taking.  
“I can’t do that,” Nate said finally.  
“Why not?” Taylor demanded, “there is _nothing_ left to stop you. If the army take Connor out we can take them all down one by one.”  
“It doesn’t work that way,” Nate looked him in the eye again.  
Taylor hesitated under his gaze.  
“You know how this has to end,” Nate insisted, “and I’ve already told you why. This doesn’t end here. It can’t.”  
Taylor bit his lip before looking away. He eyed where Nate was carefully rotating his left ankle.  
“I’m done with this game,” he insisted, “I want it to be over.”  
“Then you know what has to happen,” Nate closed his eyes again.


	118. 118

Zac’s eyes shot to the ceiling when he heard the rotating blades.  
“About time,” he muttered to himself, ducking down to the dresser and reaching for his original pair of shoes.  
He snapped the heel away and retrieved the magnet, slipping it into a pocket before going to test the door. After his last conversation with Fowler he’d been mostly confined to his room. He’d guessed it was to let him think it over.  
A hard shove on the door proved it was still barred. Hearing Nigel start yelling outside, he wondered vaguely if he’d be left in there or if he’d be expected to somehow fight like last time.  
The conversation with Fowler had ended somewhat abruptly, as if Fowler had been getting into something he wasn’t ready to share with Zac just yet. Once Fowler had admitted he was trying to slowly integrate Zac into the actual family it had taken a somewhat creepy turn. Zac got the profound impression that Fowler almost wanted him to replace his daughter – in a way likened to obtaining the son-in-law he’d never had. Considering his daughter’s apparent infatuation with him, Zac had to wonder if it truly was the spur-of-the-moment rescue that Fowler had insisted on it being.  
Either way, he’d hated the idea that he could be trapped in this cabin for the foreseeable future with both Fowler and Nigel.  
His excuse for not helping either Isaac or Taylor was that he ‘hadn’t known they were involved’. Zac didn’t know whether to believe him on that or not.  
He jumped when he suddenly heard gunfire. Both from outside the cabin and in. Bullets could clearly be heard hitting the logs on the porch in quick succession.  
“HEY!” he yelled out, “what’s going on?!”  
As expected, he was ignored. With a grunt he headed over to the opposite wall, which he knew led to the outside. He’d inspected it multiple times before to see if it could eventually be a way out, but he hadn’t had any luck. It didn’t hurt to try again.  
A sudden cry from Victor made his head snap up.   
“VICTOR?” he yelled, cautiously making his way back to the door.  
He no sooner made it there than he began to hear the beam being thrown aside. Waiting apprehensively for the door to open, he frowned when he saw that it was Nigel.  
“Get out there and grab that gun,” Nigel ordered, pointing to the right.  
When Zac stepped through he saw Victor laying on the floor, coughing and holding his chest. He immediately darted for him.  
“Leave him!” Nigel ordered, “pick up the gun and shoot!”  
“Victor?” Zac’s brow furrowed as he fell to his knees and started to apply pressure to the obvious wound.  
Victor barely managed to look up at him. Zac took a quick look over his shoulder to where a small square of the wall had been set aside – obviously a porthole for shooting through. Victor must have been shot through it.  
Before he could turn back Nigel shoved one of the rifles into his chest.  
“Fire you idiot!” he scorned.  
“You really think we can take them?!” Zac scorned, taking the rifle in his right hand and keeping his left on Victor.  
“Doesn’t matter what I think,” Nigel shrugged, “just follow your damn orders.”  
Zac scowled after him as he took his own rifle to a porthole on the opposite side of the wall.


	119. 119

Zac had reluctantly pulled himself over to the porthole, taking a careful peek through to see what was happening outside. The surrounding trees looked deceptively clear until he caught sight of a man in camouflage darting from one tree to another.  
It was definitely the army. And he knew why they were there.  
They were there for him.  
That meant Isaac and Taylor were safe.  
“Shoot dammit!” Nigel scowled, taking aim and firing himself.  
Taking into consideration the heat of the moment, Zac knew there was nothing Nigel could do to force him to comply. So he returned to Victor’s side.  
“Hey,” he began gently, “we’re gonna get you out of here. You’re gonna be okay, right?”  
Victor just frowned as he coughed again.  
“What?” he managed to choke out.  
“It’s the army. They’re here for me,” Zac informed him, “I’m gonna make sure they take you too.”  
“Zac I’m not going anywhere,” Victor shook his head, “I can’t feel my legs.”  
Zac’s face lost colour as he looked down at them. The wound didn’t look any worse than the one he’d had all those years earlier, but there was no telling where the bullet may have hit.  
As he was trying to process what damage might have been done, Victor reached out.  
“Just hand me the gun.”  
“No!” Zac scorned, pulling it aside while ignoring more yells from Nigel in the background, “I don’t care what it takes, I’m going to get you through this. Trust me, I’ve seen worse. You’re going to be fine!”  
His head shot up again as he heard clear boot falls in the snow outside. They were surrounding the cabin.  
“They’re almost here,” he promised, “just hang on.”  
“Zac-“ Victor suddenly grabbed his left arm.  
Zac paused, standing the rifle on its end as he knelt up.  
“My name…” Victor softly choked out, “…is Henry. Please, find my cousin?”  
“I’ll go you one better,” Zac assured, “I’ll take you to your cousin.”  
Victor rolled his eyes as Zac finally stood. He eyed where Nigel knelt across the room, eyes through the sight of the rifle and finger plastered to the trigger. He’d evidently given up on Zac’s help for now.  
Zac looked to the back and the doorway through to Fowler’s office and the other bedrooms. There was no sign of either Fowler or Mrs T. Unsurprising, considering how well he’d managed to evade the army at the last cabin.  
Swapping hands, Zac slung the rifle over his shoulder. If Fowler was MIA, it was time to make a move.  
Keeping an eye on the door in case the army were to suddenly barge through without further warning, Zac stepped lightly over the floorboards. Nigel was engrossed in pinpointing anyone out in the snow and paid Zac no mind.  
Until he suddenly felt the butt of the rifle brush his hair.  
“Drop the gun,” Zac ordered.  
Nigel turned his head, unable to hold back a smirk.  
“You’re really gonna try that with me?” he scorned.


	120. 120

Zac backed off, only enough so that if Nigel turned he wouldn’t be able to reach the barrel.  
“I said drop it.”  
“And I ain’t listening,” Nigel said matter-of-fact.  
Zac pulled the trigger. He hadn’t been using the sight so his aim was way off, but it was enough to make Nigel jump.  
And hopefully enough to make the army question what was going on inside and encourage them to cease fire.  
“What the Hell you playin’ at?!” Nigel demanded, pulling himself to his feet.  
A wayward groan came from Victor, making Zac only blink.  
“Enough is enough,” he tried to reason, “Fowler’s ditched you. The army has us surrounded. There’s no way out, and I’m not fighting for you.”  
Nigel’s eyes narrowed as he pulled the rifle vertical.  
“And how’d you know it was the army?” he demanded.  
“Because they knew where I was the whole time,” Zac revealed.   
“What?” came another gasp from Victor.  
“Motherf-“  
“Put the damn gun down!” Zac’s voice rose, “or I swear I’ll plead self-defence and do it anyway!”  
Nigel dropped the gun and gave Zac a condescending look. Zac backed over to the front door of the cabin and pulled the bolt open with his free hand.  
“Move out,” he instructed, indicating the door with the rifle.  
“Are you bluffing?” Nigel’s eyebrows rose, “I step out that door, I get shot.”  
“Oh don’t even,” Zac scorned, “we’ve been here before. They didn’t shoot me, they’re not gonna shoot you. Open the damn door.”  
Zac suddenly jumped as a megaphone squealed. An announcement echoed through the cabin, inviting them to come outside with their hands up.  
“See?” Zac pointed out, “no one’s going to shoot you. This time. Except for me, again, if you don’t do as they say. Only this time it won’t be your foot.”  
Nigel’s eyes narrowed again before he pointedly made for the door. He set a hand on the door and prepared to open it, before suddenly turning with a duck.  
Zac fired a shot, missing and hitting the door. Nigel was on him before he could reload, landing some well-aimed punches to his face.  
“What kind of slave are you?!” he was demanding, “you can’t even follow your damn orders! Now get up and fight you piece of-“  
Another gunshot rang out and Nigel suddenly fell to the side. Zac scrambled up to his hands and knees, reaching for where the rifle had fallen in order to quickly reload before Nigel regained his footing. A quick glance to the right saw Victor drop his own rifle.  
Not taking the time to thank him, Zac checked that Nigel was still recovering from the shot in his side before he pulled himself up and threw the door open himself.   
“Drop your weapon!” came a call over the megaphone.  
“Just do your job and get in here!” Zac shouted back, quickly training the rifle on Nigel again.  
He’d fallen onto his side, and Zac wasn’t sure if he was conscious or not. But if he was, his own rifle was well and truly within reach.   
Zac wasn’t taking the chance.


	121. 121

“What just happened?” Isaac frowned.  
“Looks like Zac’s got a handle on it,” Devon couldn’t help but grin, “take them down, boys!”  
They watched the aerial surveillance on the big screen as the army moved in on the cabin. Seconds later, audio came through from one of the soldiers.  
“Eyes on Hanson, Zac.”  
“Status?” Devon demanded, having taken over the controls once Andrews had left.  
“Perfect!”  
Isaac and Devon locked eyes. That had been Zac’s voice.  
“But what the Hell took you so long?”  
“Sorry, we hit a rough patch,” Devon mused.  
“Is that Devon?”  
“Yeah, and Ike’s here too.”  
“Hey you,” Isaac smirked, “have a nice holiday?”  
“Screw you too. Just wait until you hear what Fowler really wanted.”  
“What’s Fowler’s status, Zac?” Devon asked.  
“Gone, I think,” Zac’s voice came back, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him in a while. But I never thought he left the cabin, so I don’t know where he would have gone. There was an older woman here too. Long reddish hair, a bit overweight. She was like the cook. Can’t find either of them.”  
“Sounds like Patricia Fowler,” Devon looked to Jenkins.  
“Fowler?”  
“Yeah, his wife,” Devon revealed, “we’ll see if we can’t track the two down. Let’s just get you out of there for now.”  
“Where’s Tay?”  
“He’s on his way here from up north,” Isaac assured, “he’s a few hours away. Hopefully you’ll get back here at the same time.”  
“A few hours? How are we-?”  
“There’s a plane just landed east of your position. It’ll bring you home.”  
“I’m bringing Victor with me.”  
“Who?” Isaac frowned.  
“Another guy here with me. He’s been shot. He’s in bad shape.”  
“Check in with the medics on site,” Devon insisted, “see if he’s in good enough condition to fly, then get the Hell out of there. We need you guys back here.”  
“Will do. Over and out,” Zac promised before passing the radio back.  
Isaac and Devon watched on screen as the army began moving out. They couldn’t tell which of the heat signatures belonged to Zac, but they deciphered two stretchers being prepared and taken inside.  
“Give me confirmation on numbers,” Devon got back to work.  
“Three inside so far,” came the reply, “two gunshot wounds and Zac. Both are passed out.”  
“One will be the guy Zac mentioned,” Isaac gave him a glance.  
“Get them off the ground, now!” Devon ordered, “what’s our gunshots’ status? Are we clear?”  
“Neither have been ruled good to fly. We’re getting Zac off the ground now.”  
“Radio in from the air with an ETA,” Devon insisted.  
“Easier than Tay at least,” Isaac mused.


	122. 122

Isaac had given up tapping his foot and was now pacing one of the many foyers of the Pentagon. Private Monroe shadowed him, keeping an eye on the doors.  
“Are they supposed to be taking this long?” he finally asked.  
“Who knows?” Monroe shrugged, “it’s almost midday. Traffic could be a bitch.”  
It was at least another ten minutes or so before a couple of armoured vehicles pulled up outside. Monroe indicated for Isaac to stay put as he checked out which brother had arrived first. Depending on who it was, they may have needed more security.  
Seeing Zac jump out of the back he held the door open as the younger Hanson jogged inside.  
“Zac!” Isaac grinned, pulling him into a hug.  
“Hey Ike,” he returned before pulling away, “where’s Tay? Interrogation?”  
“He’s not here yet,” Isaac admitted, making Zac frown, “are you okay?”  
“I’m fine,” Zac assured, eyeing Monroe as two soldiers came through behind him and the doors were again closed securely.  
“And?”  
“Where’s Devon?”  
“Briefing with Andrews,” Isaac replied, “Tay was with Connor Creed, but they lost him. I don’t know how, because apparently Tay both stabbed _and_ shot him.”  
“Whoa,” Zac’s eyebrows rose, “go Tay.”  
“That’s what I said,” Isaac shrugged as he began leading him down a corridor.  
Monroe and the soldiers followed close behind.  
“So what did Fowler want?”  
Zac sighed, scratching his head before shaking his hair out.  
“It’s complicated.”  
“Like that huh?”  
“No,” Zac scorned, “there’s just… a lot of history. Look, I’ll do the interrogation and get back to you when I can work out how to summarise it.”  
“Okay,” Isaac nodded, “I’ll make sure Kate’s waiting.”  
“Thanks.”  
They made it to the interview room and Isaac caught Zac’s arm before he could disappear inside.  
“I’m gonna go back and wait for Tay. I’ll see you when you get out.”  
“No problem,” Zac nodded.  
Isaac stood back so the interviewing officer could follow Zac in and close the door behind them.   
“Ike?”  
Isaac shot Monroe a glance before walking back with him.  
“Tay should have been here first, right?” he looked confused.  
“Like I said, you never know,” Monroe shrugged, “but off the record? I would have thought so. Personally.”  
“Can you contact that uh… Jones? The one transporting them?”  
“Whyte was transporting, Jones was just surveillance. But I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Thanks,” Isaac nodded as they made it back to the foyer.  
Monroe radioed in, requesting a line with Whyte. At the response, Monroe gave Isaac a nervous glance.  
“When?” he demanded.


	123. 123

“What happened?!” Devon demanded, meeting Monroe in the corridor as Isaac trailed behind apprehensively.  
“I’m not entirely sure,” Monroe admitted, “but you need to patch in with Whyte. Jones is AWOL.”  
“What?!”  
They made it to what had been dubbed their surveillance room and Devon shot through. Jenkins was still online, taking orders from Andrews and continuing the scouting of the Salamanca premises.  
“Jenkins. Get a line with Whyte. Track down the truck,” Devon ordered.  
“Wasn’t Jones the one supposed to be supervising Tay?” Isaac looked between them.  
“He was,” Devon confirmed as Jenkins typed away.  
“Line six,” he indicated a headset, which Devon quickly took up.  
“Whyte it’s Devon. Talk to me.”  
“We haven’t been able to put out a mayday,” Whyte’s voice came through the speakers as well, “but we’ve got a problem or ten.”  
“What’s going on?” Devon demanded, “give me a status on Taylor and Nathan.”  
“They’re gone.”  
Isaac’s head snapped up to Devon.  
“Wait, what does he mean?” he fired off, “they’re gone? How can they be gone? Where would they go? Where’s Jones?!”  
“Jones?” Devon tried to ignore him.  
“He’s dead, sir.”  
“What?!”  
“How?” Devon demanded.  
“Neck was broken. We had to stop for fuel just before the Penn-Mary border. We weren’t getting radio from Jones so we checked the back. Both Hanson and Devereux are gone.”  
“ _How?!_ ”  
“We don’t know for sure but he did some damage on the way out. Jones’ weapons are gone.”  
“I knew letting Tay ride with him was a bad idea,” Devon muttered, “where are you now?!”  
“We were in a dead spot, couldn’t get through to you guys until now. Maybe Devereux did something to the radios too,” Whyte relayed, “but we’re just south of Frederick now. We’ll be home soon.”  
Isaac took a seat and put his head in his hands as Devon finished up.  
“Keep a line open until you get here,” Devon ordered before taking the headset off and directing his attention to Jenkins.  
“Track the truck from the Pennsylvania-Maryland border,” he ordered, “go back as far as you can. I want to see Taylor and Nate leaving.”  
“On it Sir,” Jenkins nodded, getting the maps on screen and already sifting through, “but I’ll need to tell Andrews.”  
“Don’t bother, I’ll call him myself,” Devon insisted, “Connor’s gone. Let’s focus on Devereux.”  
“So Nate has Taylor. Again,” Isaac finally looked up.  
“Looks like,” Devon was already on the phone.  
“This is insane,” Isaac shook his head, “this is supposed to be over!”  
“Not until we have Nate and Connor in custody,” Devon gave him a pat on the shoulder as he walked past, “Andrews! It’s Devon. I’ve tagged Jenkins on surveillance. Devereux’s taken Hanson again.”


	124. 124

“You’re kidding,” there was a glare in Zac’s eyes.  
“Not kidding,” Isaac rubbed his face, reminding himself the anger wasn’t aimed at him.  
“How did this happen?!” Zac demanded, his focus turning on Devon, “how did _any_ of this happen?! Is Taylor really that hard to watch? Seriously!”  
“Zac calm down,” Devon insisted, “I’ve got Jenkins following them back. We’ll find where Nate’s gone.”  
“You sure about that?” Zac’s eyebrows rose, “because I hear you’ve been awesome at tracking down Connor.”  
“Zac-“  
“Ike, no,” Zac scorned, “we’ve been through enough. It’s time for it to be over. These guys need to pull their fingers out of their asses and actually catch these guys. You’ve been saying for _how long_ now? This has been going on longer than we’ve been involved, we know that much.”  
“As long as I’ve been enrolled,” Devon shrugged, “but priorities change, and-“  
“Don’t you talk to me about priorities,” Zac seethed, “’priorities’ got Vance killed. ‘Priorities’ saw Tay taken to Mexico. _’Priorities’_ sent me back to Fowler when he should already have been dealt with. And priorities made sure that everyone else who got out of Waco died.”  
Isaac looked between the two, now worried about saying anything else.  
“You make Taylor your damn priority,” Zac was staring Devon down, “because it’s only through him that you’re going to find Creed.”  
“We’re aware,” Devon responded in kind, “and right now, Taylor _is_ the priority.”  
“But for how long?” Zac demanded, “until someone sights Creed? And you decide to go after him instead of tracking Nate?”  
Zac stood his ground as Devon stepped forward, getting dangerously close. Isaac’s eyes darted as the two shared breath.  
“Taylor is _my_ priority,” he assured, “and he has been since day one. Even if the orders change, you can bet your ass I’ll do everything in my power to keep track of him. I don’t care what it takes.”  
“Good to know,” Isaac interjected, hoping to break them up a little.  
“You’d better,” Zac’s eyes narrowed, “because if you don’t?”  
“Okay that’s enough,” Isaac grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, “back off, both of you. We’re all pissed. We’re all worried. Let’s just find Tay.”  
Devon kept his eye on Zac until he noticed Monroe returning.  
“If you’re here to pick me up, I think we’re gonna be here a while,” Isaac told him regrettably.  
“Actually no, I’m here for Zac,” Monroe looked between them.  
“Excuse me?” he caught Zac’s attention.  
“Thought you might want to know, we heard from the guys in Alaska,” Monroe nodded, “they worked out who was who. Nigel Fowler is officially detained, though you did some damage for sure.”  
“And Victor?” Zac asked hopefully.  
“He’s not doing good,” Monroe winced, “he hasn’t woken up yet.”  
“Who is he?” Isaac looked between them.  
“Actually he told me his name was Henry, before he passed out,” Zac corrected, “he wanted me to find his cousin. But… needle in a haystack, right?”  
“Not necessarily,” came Devon’s voice from behind them, “did he give you a surname?”  
“No,” Zac turned to him, frowning when he saw his expression, “why?”


	125. 125

“He’s yours?” Zac’s brow furrowed.  
“That explains a lot,” Isaac put his hands on his hips.  
“I thought for sure he’d be dead by now,” Devon shook his head, “he went missing in 2006.”  
“Seven years?” Zac confirmed.  
“Yeah.”  
“Now we know why you’ve taken this whole thing so personally,” Isaac gave him a sympathetic look.  
“How did you know?” Zac frowned, “how did you know it was the Creeds?”  
“I didn’t, not for sure,” Devon admitted, “but you know there’s always that niggling feeling at the back of your brain saying something’s not right? I’ve had that. For seven years. And now I know.”  
Zac nodded, not sure how he was managing to keep himself together so well.  
“How’s he doing?” Devon asked Monroe, obviously trying not to get emotional.  
“Like I said, not good,” Monroe winced, “but I hear he’s stable. I can patch you through to the hospital he’s at if you’d like?”  
“Yeah, sure,” Devon nodded, “but not right now.”  
He looked at Zac.  
“We have someone else to find first.”  
“Devon-“ Zac was cut off by Jenkins appearing in the doorway behind them.  
“Devon?” he looked worried, “you’re gonna want to see this.”  
Isaac and Zac shared a curious glance as Devon followed him back into the room. A satellite feed was on the big screen, showing an armoured truck on a highway seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  
“This is just south of Altoona, about halfway to Bedford,” Jenkins took a seat at the laptop, “right next to Blue Knob State.”  
“Where did they go?” Devon demanded, rubbing his face tiredly as Zac and Isaac shadowed him.  
“That’s not why I called you in.”  
Devon gave Jenkins a curious look. He indicated the screen before playing the video.  
“Pay close attention,” he insisted, “I’ll zoom in later.”  
Isaac frowned as the video played. The van never stopped, but they could clearly see the back door open. Two bodies fell out – presumably Nate and Taylor. The two were easy enough to tell apart, with Taylor being both taller and thinner in stature.  
“Is he hurt?” Zac’s eyes darted across the screen.  
“Devereux sure is,” Jenkins was watching along with them.  
The two bodies picked themselves up from the road, quickly skirting the other vehicles coming from behind them. They stood to the side of the road before Taylor appeared to wave down an approaching car.  
“What’s he doing?” Isaac’s frown only deepened.  
They watched as a car finally stopped, and Taylor went back to where Nate sat waiting. He helped him to his feet and into the car, before the car did a U-turn and headed back for Altoona.  
“What just happened?” Zac was dumbfounded, “Nate could have been half dead!”  
“By reports, he was,” Devon’s eyebrows rose, “he sustained multiple gunshot wounds from Connor, and he lost a lot of blood. Frankly I’m surprised he’s even walking.”  
“So how did he pull this off?” Isaac indicated the screen, “how did he…?”  
“I think we might need to face the possibility…” Devon looked him in the eye worriedly, “that Nate might not be the one who killed Jones.”


End file.
